Thinking Nothing's Wrong
by FakeASmile90
Summary: "You promised not to stop," she whispers. "When you said when?"   Claire Petrelli and Gabriel Gray are just two kids in love. Nathan will have none of that. Better summary inside.  I think. xD
1. Chapter 1

Thinking Nothing's Wrong

**A/N: Hello, I just recently finished the series Heroes and have been dying to write this story since season two. It's quite hard to put into a story the idea I had. This is completely AU. Claire was never adopted. Nathan kept her. Heidi is her real mom. Gabriel Gray is the same age as Claire. (17) They're in love but Nathan will have none of that. It's one of those typical stories of girl and boy in love but girl comes from rich family/ boy comes from poor family. Girl's family cares about their image and refuses to see their daughter with someone so lowly. Anyway, I hope you like it. Please give me some feedback. First Heroes Fanfic. :D **

**Disclaimer: Don't own Heroes. **

Chapter One

Claire Petrelli looks up from doing her homework at the desk in her bedroom. She was lost in thought, not really paying attention to the history book she was supposed to be studying. She thought she had heard a clicking sound over the music she was listening to. Taking her earphones out of her ears, she listens intently for the sound she thought she heard. All she heard was the pounding of the beat coming from her earphones. She shrugs and starts to put them back into her ears when she hears it again. She realizes the sound was coming from her window.  
Shutting off her Ipod, she hops up off her chair and quickly walks over to her window. Claire parts her curtains a tiny bit and peers out. It was pitch black out. All she can see are shadows in her yard. The nearest lightpole was halfway down the street. Nothing seems out of the ordinary until she sees a movement down below her two story window. Next thing a small rock smacks her window, making her jump slightly. Smiling to herself, she realizes who is throwing rocks at her window. Claire parts her curtains all the way and opens her window. Sticking her head out she whispers out, "Gabriel!"  
"Hey, Claire," He quietly responds. "May I come up?"  
"Hold on, okay?"  
Claire walks across the room to her bedroom door and opens it, peering out. She walks into the hallway, quietly closing the door behind her. She then walks to her right down a hall leading towards a staircase that goes down into the kitchen. She stops in front of a door that goes into her two younger brothers' bedroom. She can hear their muffled snores through the door. She turns around and walks back down to her room then walks down the hallway straight across from her door. She comes across the staircase that leads down to the front of the house. If she continues down the hall, she would come across another hallway that has an office room, a couple of guestrooms and, at the very end is her parents' bedroom. She walks down the hall to her parents' bedroom and presses her ear to their door. Not hearing anything, she assumes they are still at their friend's party. Her parents, Nathan and Heidi, were always going out, forcing Claire to stay home and babysit her younger brothers. Most of the stuff they did was to boost Nathan's political career. Claire walks down the carpeted sprial staircase, walking to the front door. She unlocks it and steps onto the dark porch.  
"Gabriel!" She calls out. A dark haired and dark eyed 17 year old boy walks up to the steps of the porch. He was wearing his usual vans, skinny jeans and collered shirt that he left unbotton to reveal a band tee. He smiles at her. Claire hugs him. She then ushers for him to come inside. She didn't want her gossiping neighbor to see them. She then shuts and locks the front door behind them, pulling him through the dark house. Before they reached the stairs, Claire heard a bedroom door open then close upstairs. Her eyes grow wide.  
"Fuck," she whispers to Gabriel. She can hear the chandelier rattle as someone walks across the hall above their heads.  
"Claire?" They hear her father call from the upstairs landing. Claire can hear him start walking down the stairs, making her heart skip a few beats. She quickly turns around and pulls Gabriel through the hall that leads down to a dining room. Going around the dining table and through a door on the otherside of the room, they find themselves in the kitchen. Claire can hear her father in the hall. She turns to Gabriel.  
"Go up those stairs and run to my bedroom as quietly as you can. Make sure you hide," she whispers. All he does is nod. She watches as he races up the stairs as he can. Claire sees his feet disappear right when Nathan enters the kitchen. She turns around quickly. Trying to even out her breathing without him noticing, Claire smiles at her father.  
"Claire, what are you doing?" He askes her.  
"Hello, dad. I was studying when I decided to get something to drink." Claire walks to the white cabinents and grabs a glass. She turns back to her father. "Would you like something to drink?"  
"No, thank you. I thought I had heard something down here. Just checking to make sure I locked up the house." Claire nods and walks to the sink, filling her glass up with water. She turns around and leans against the counter, sipping it. "What time did you and mom get in?" Claire asks. "I didn't hear you come in."  
"Must have had that music up loud, then, eh?" Her father says, walking to the cabinents to get himself some water. Claire only shrugs looking down at the floor. She sets her cup on the counter behind her. "We came in about thirty minutes ago. How were the boys?"  
"They were fine. Made them leftover spagetti from last night." Claire replies.  
"That's good. We would have came said something to you when we first came in, but we assumed you were in bed." Claire shrugs again and glances at the clock on the microwave. It read 12:15. She didn't realize how late it was. "Like I said, I was doing homework." She answered. Nathan nods and sets his now empty glass next to Claire's.  
"Well, you should get to bed soon. Don't you have a test tomorrow?"  
Claire nods. Nathan lifts an eyebrow, giving her a stern look. Claire almost rolls her eyes but stops herself in time.  
"Yessir," She answers, knowing that's what her father wants to hear.  
"That's better," he says. He grabs her head and kisses her on the forehead. She smiles at him. "Goodnight, Claire." "Goodnight, Dad," she replies. Nathan waits for her to climb up the stairs before switching off the lights in the kitchen. Claire walks down the hall, passing her brothers' bedroom. Nathan squeezes her arm, affectionately before passing her and heading down the long hall to his room. She waits until she hears her father go into his bedroom before entering her own.  
If Nathan ever found out she was sneaking boys in the house... Claire shudders. She doesn't want to think about what the consequences would be. Claire quietly opens her bedroom door and slips in, closing it behind her. She looks around her large bedroom. Next to the door to the right was the dark chery wood desk she had abandoned earlier. Her textbook and schoolwork cluttered the top of it. Along the walls was a billboard that had a calender and a whole bunch of pictures of her and her friends and family on it. There were also posters. Ones of various bands on them. Straight ahead towards the left a bit from the door stood her dresser. It too was dark cherry wood. It had a vanity mirror attached to it. She walks across the room to her full size bed. It laid next to a bookcase. Next to the bookcase was the window that had a window seat. Sitting on her bed, she whispers.  
"Gabriel." She turns her head when she sees her closet door open. Gabriel walks out.  
"I thought your parents wouldn't be home for abother hour or two at least," He says, while walking towards her.  
She stands up and he embraces her. She loved hugging Gabriel. Breathing in his unusual scent that consisted of mint and pine. Coolness. Refreshing. She holds onto him tightly, not wanting to let go. He pulls away from her at arms length and leans down to capture her lips. She got onto her tipitoes. He was so much taller than her. Claire pulls back and stares into his dark brown eyes. Whenever she stared long enough into those eyes she could always see a sense of sadness in them. He breaks their contact. He walks to the bed pulling back her lavender colored bedding. Claire walks to her dresser pulling out pajama pants and a t-shirt.  
"It's almost one o'clock," She says, as she walks into the bathroom. She changes quickly and walks back out into the bedroom. She walks over to the bedroom door where the light switch is located and switches it off. "You came over later than usual," She continues as she walks over to the bed. Gabriel kicks off his shoes as Claire slides into the bed. Gabriel follows. "I'm sorry. My dad didn't pass out until awhile after he got home from work. He actually had a good day today, surprisingly."  
"Well, that's good isn't it?" She asks, laying her head down against the soft pillows. Gabriel turned to his side propping an elbow up to rest his head againt his hand. He looks down at Claire, gently pushing her hair away from her face with his other hand. "I guess," He whispers. Claire can see his features turn into a frown. She places her hand on his cheek then wraps her arms around his shoulders. Gabriel leans against Claire, positioning himself so that he's comfortable. He places his ear on her chest, listening to her heartbeat. She runs her fingers through his hair, rubbing his scalp the way he likes it. "You guess?" She whispers back. She breathes in the earthy scent of Gabriel's hair, making her relax even more.  
"Yeah," he replies. "It's not good because I couldn't come to see you earlier." She smiles. She kisses the top of his head. He kisses where her heart beats. "I love you, Gabriel Gray." She tells him the umpteenth time. "I love you too, Claire Petrelli." He replies, feeling himself fall into the dark clutches of sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hope you like this. Please send me some feedback. Thanks, lovelies.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Heroes.**

Chapter Two

A beeping sound wakes Gabriel up. He opens his eyes after it dawns on him that the sound is coming from his watch. He quickly presses the button to make the annoying sound stop. He presses another button that makes a blue fluorescent light come on. The time was 4:30. Yawning, he carefully sits up, trying not to wake the sleeping girl next to him.

He gets up out of the bed and covers Claire back in the blankets. He smiles to himself, still not believing that a beautiful girl such as her could ever love someone such as him. Gabriel sits down at the edge of the bed, pulling his shoes on. He turns back to face Claire; pushing her long hair out of her face to kiss her cheek.

"See you later, my love," he whispers to her sleeping form.

He then stands up and walks to the open window, climbing out. He climbs down the long ivy that's attached to the wall. Running to his bike he left hidden in some bushes at the side of the house, he pedals off down the dark street in the early morning.

"Claire… Honey… It's time to wake up…"

Claire groans, pushing away from the person who was trying to wake her. Heidi shakes her daughter a couple more times. Finally, Claire forces her eyes open, only to be blinded by the bright early morning sun pouring through her open window.

Claire rolls over to see her mother walking out of the room. She rubs her tired eyes. A few moments later, Nathan stands in her doorway.

"Claire, get up now. You need to get ready if you want a ride to school this morning," he says a little impatiently. Claire rolls her eyes. "Did you hear me?" He raises his voice, slightly.

"Yes," she replies, slowly sitting up. "Yes sir."

"Good. Now hurry up so you can help get your brothers ready." She nods and gets up. Nathan heads back to his bedroom. After showering and dressing in her blue and white school uniform, Claire walks down the hall to her brothers' room.

"Adrian and Adam are you up?" She asks as she walks in their bedroom.

"Yup!" Adam replies. He was already completely dresses. "Adrian is downstairs." Claire smiles at her eight year old brother. Despite their young age, they both were very independent.

"Well, that helps a bunch."

Adam smiles at her then races out of the room. Claire heads back to her room to finish getting ready. She decides to braid her long blonde hair to the side. She then applies purple eye shadow to her eyes and black mascara to her long eyelashes. The purple seemed to make her green eyes stick out more.

Once satisfied with her appearance, she gathers her homework into her shoulder bag and head downstairs to the kitchen. Her mother was cooking them eggs. Claire slides into the stool at the island that sits in the middle of the kitchen.

"Claire, we're going to need you to watch the boys again tonight," her mother says to her as she piles eggs onto three plates. Claire furrows her eyebrows.

"Mom, I can't. I have plans with Caitlyn and Bethany tonight. You said I could hang out with them, remember?" Claire replies. She knew this was going to happen.

"I know, sweetheart, but you'll just have to cancel. An important-"

"Business dinner? Party? You and dad are always going out!" Claire interrupts. "Mom, I can't miss another-"

"You see them at school, Claire. I'm pretty sure one night is not going to hurt," Heidi answers. Claire takes the plate her mother holds out for her and sets it on the island hard. Heidi lifts an eyebrow at her.

"One night, mom? Uhh… How about two? Three? Five?" exclaims Claire, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "This isn't fair! I'm not their mother!"

"Claire, you know how important this is for your father~" Her mother replies, angrily.

"Yeah, so important that you haven't been home long enough to take care of your children!" Claire yells. Her mother slams her hand down on the island. She points her index finger at Claire. Claire just glares at her.

"I've had enough of that mouth of your's, young lady," Heidi says, quietly. "Another word and you're grounded. Now eat."

Right then Nathan enters the room. He stops to see Claire and Heidi glaring at each other.

"What's going on?" Nathan asks, but they both seemed not to hear him. Claire huffs and throws her hands up.

"What else is new? It's not like I have a life anyway!" She retorts.

"That's it!" Heidi yells. "You're not going anywhere this weekend!"

Claire holds back the tears that threatens to leave her eyes. She pushes her plate hard across the island towards Heidi, bits of egg flying everywhere. Heidi gasps.

"Claire!" Nathan yells at her. Claire just ignores them, grabs her bag and storms from the room. They all jump when they hear the front door slam. Heidi looks at her husband with tears in her eyes. He sighs and walks to her, pulling her in a hug.

"I'll talk to her," Nathan tells Heidi. She nods and kisses him on the cheek.

"Come on, boys," she says to Adrian and Adam. Heidi ushers them to the front door. "Have a good day at school. Love you."

"Love you too, Mom," they yell in unison as they run to the limo that's sitting out front. She watches as they climb in. Seeing Claire standing out there, she sighs, shaking her head.

"Don't worry about it, Heidi," Nathan says, seeing Claire standing out there too. Heidi nods and smiles at him. "Have a nice day," he says as he kisses her on the cheek. Nathan walks out into the cool crisp morning air. He hears the door shut behind him. He approaches Claire. "That was uncalled for, Claire," Nathan says to her.

Claire just rolls her eyes. She moves to open the limo door, but Nathan grabs her arm a little too hard, making her turn back to face him. Claire looks up at his face with a scowl.

"Did you not hear me?" He asks. Claire pulls her arm out of his grasp.

"Of course I did," she replies, "And I don't care, Dad! It's not fair!"

"Life is not fair, Claire Elizabeth! And you better damn well care," He says, angrily. Claire looks like she's going to retort but decides against it. She knew better than to argue when her father uses her middle name.

"Now when you get home from school, I want you to apologize to your mother. She did not deserve that."

Claire's jaw drops. "You've got to be kidding me."

Nathan holds his hand up to stop any further argument. "No, I am not. Now is that understood?"

Claire huffs under her breath but answers him. "Yes sir." Nathan nods and open the car door. Claire climbs into the limo.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"Claire!"

Claire looks up from her lunch tray. She was sitting at a crowded table where her and her friends normally sit in the cafeteria. She looked around at her friends. All of them had their eyes on her.

"Earth to Petrelli… Geeze, girl, wake up," Bethany snaps her fingers near Claire's head. Claire shakes her head then smiles at them. Bethany continues looking at Claire while the rest of the others start talking around them again.

"Sorry. I've just been spacing today," Claire apologizes. She picks up her turkey sandwich and takes a bite. Bethany rolls her eyes and continues where she left off.

"Anyway, as I was saying, my mom said I can use the car tonight. We can head to the mall after school to search for homecoming dresses. Then we head back to my house to get ready for the bowling alley."

"That sounds like a good idea," Janelle says. They hear a phone ring. Janelle grabs her cellular from her purse and checks it. "That's Scotty. I will see you guys after school," she tells the group as she hurries off.

"Claire, what do you think? Did your parents say it was okay for you to come over?" Bethany asks . She watches Claire set down her half eaten sandwich on the tray.

"Crap," Claire replies, averting her eyes from Bethany's hawk like gaze. "I forgot to tell you earlier. I'm grounded for the weekend."

Bethany just shakes her head. "No, Claire! You can't be! What did you do?"

"I fought with my mom as usual. She wants me to babysit the boys again."

"God. It's like you're their mother!"

Claire sighs. "I know. It's fucking frustrating. I'm sick and tired of it."

Bethany shakes her head again. "We've had this planned for two weeks! Heidi knew about this! It's not like you just sprung it on them!"

"I know, Bethany." Claire looks around the cafeteria. Sitting at a table across the room, Claire caught Jackson Cauldwell staring at her. She quickly looks away. He was their high school heart throb. All the girls wanted him. Well, except for her. He knew this, making the reason why he wants her. Sure, he was a cutie. The blonde wavy hair, blue eyed type, but he always gave Claire the creeps.

Bethany snaps her fingers at Claire again. Claire looks at her. "Damn it, Claire! Pay attention!"

"I'm sorry, Beth. What were you saying?" Bethany sighs dramatically. Claire rolls her eyes.

"I'm trying to help you think of a way to come out tonight! Jesus. You're just going to have to talk to you mother again. Apologize. Beg her if you have to."

"Bethany-"

"No, Claire! You cannot miss another night! Besides, Jackson is going to be at the bowling alley tonight with a bunch of his hot friends!" Bethany exclaims, excitedly. Claire almost rolls her eyes again.

Bethany has been trying to get Claire to go out with Jackson since junior high. She just did not understand why Claire did not want someone like him. She kept saying something about social suicide and no one in their right mind would commit such an act like that. Claire never bought into the whole stereotypical high school scene.

Even though Bethany was Claire's best friend, she hasn't told her about Gabriel. She hasn't told anyone. She didn't know why. She just had a feeling that certain people wouldn't like the idea of her dating the son of a suspected killer.

Claire looked at Bethany who was rattling on about Jackson and Sierra, Guinnes High's most infamous couple, broke up for the thousandth time.

"I'm pretty sure they're officially over, Claire. That's why you HAVE to come!" Claire sighs at her auburn haired friend. Bethany had to have been one of the most beautiful girls in the school, but for some reason she was always trying to mess with Claire's life, instead of her own. But then again, Bethany was already in a established relationship with Benjamin Waters, the quarterback of their football team.

The bell rang just in time, signaling the end of lunch, and giving Claire the chance to not answer her. Getting up from their table to throw away their trash, Claire turns to Bethany.

"Look, I will try to talk to my mom again. Maybe my uncle can watch the boys or something," Claire tells her. Bethany smiles brightly at her. "I'm not promising anything, Beth, so don't get your hopes up."

"Of course not, Doll," Bethany says. They found themselves in a crowded hallway, a sea of kids rushing to their classes. Bethany spots Benjamin ahead of them. "There's Ben. I'll call you later sometime after school. We'll skip on the dress shopping and do it later this weekend."

"Okay," Claire says. "See you." She watches her friend wave at her then walk to her boyfriend. Claire turns the opposite direction, walking down the hall to her favorite class: photography.

As she was walking, she felt her bag vibrate against her hip. She realized it was coming from her phone. Pulling it out, she saw Gabriel's name appear on the screen. She smiles to herself and answers the phone.

"Hello?" She says quietly into it. The hall was quickly starting to empty. Claire walks into the nearest girl's restroom. Her photography teacher wouldn't mind if she came in a little late; she was a good student.

"Hey," Gabriel replies. "Are you busy?"

"Uhh… does going to class count?" Claire says.

"Nope, not at all," Gabriel answers. She can hear the smile in his voice. "I was just wondering if you wanted to ditch the last two classes. I have something to show you."

Claire smiles to herself but then frowns. "Ditch? I don't know, Gabriel. I've never ditched before…" Right then the blaring bell rang through the bathroom. Claire winces at how loud it was.

"Well, technically, you are ditching now, Love. Something tells me you're not in class." Claire laughs. She lets out a breath slowly, starting to feel butterflies in her stomach. Gabriel can tell she is hesitant.

"If we get caught, blame it on me. You can tell them it was my idea."

"It IS your idea," Claire giggles. She sighs then says, "Fine, I will ditch. Where are you?"

"I'm across the street from your school. I had a feeling you were going to come with me." Claire laughs at his arrogant attitude.

"Okay, Mr. Cocky," She can hear him laugh. "I'll be there in a few."

"Alrighty, love. See you." They hang up. Claire puts her phone back in her bag. She walks to the sink to look in the mirror. She felt real nervous all of a sudden. She really never had ditched class before. She and Bethany have talked about it before but never went through with it.

Grabbing her cucumber melon body spray from her bag, she sprays herself with it. She then puts it back in her bag and walks to the door. Claire peek her head out to make sure no hall monitor was guarding the hall. Seeing no one, she takes off down the hall.

Claire found herself standing outside the school. The warm afternoon sun beats down on her. She sees Gabriel leaning against the pole of a street sign. His black bike rests on its kick stand next to him. Claire smiles and waves. Gabriel returns the gesture.

She walks across the visitor's parking lot. She then walks across the deserted street. She runs the rest of the way to him, throwing her arms around him. Gabriel chuckles. Claire breathes in his earthy scent.

"I've missed you so much," she says, her voice muffled against his shirt. Gabriel laughs and pulls back to look down at her face. She smiles back at him. She notices him wince slightly and frowns.

"What's wrong, Gabriel?" she asks.

"Nothing. Nothing," Gabriel answers. She looks like she was going to argue, but Gabriel places a finger on her lips. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine," he reassures her. She smiles then laughs.

"Okay," she says, stepping away from him, "So, you got me out here. What did you want to show me?"

Gabriel walks to his bike, kicking up the stand and walking towards her.

"Hop on the handle bars and I will show you," he tells her as he gets onto the bike. Claire smiles at him while walking around the bike. She puts one foot on a kick bar and then her other foot on the other bar. She then slowly turns around, situating herself so that she is sitting on the handle bars. Claire's heart starts to beat faster, a little shaky feeling being on the handle bars like that.

"It's okay, Claire. Just lean back on me, if you like. I won't let you fall." Claire nods. She leans back against Gabriel's hard chest, his head coming over her shoulder. The smell of her hair reminds him of summer.

"Ready?"He asks her.

"Yes," Claire answers. Gabriel begins to pedal down the street. Claire breathes in the fresh air that blows at her and Gabriel. She can feel the butterflies flutter out of her stomach the faster Gabriel pedals. Everything seemed to lift off her shoulders as adrenalin kicks in. Feeling brave, Claire lifts her arms in a V shape over her head.

"Whoa!" Claire yells, the wind stealing her words and blowing them far behind her and Gabriel. She laughs, breathing in the sweet cool air of fall. Gabriel laughs as well.

"You're flying, Claire," he says into her ear. Claire smiles and slowly puts her arms back down, grabbing onto the handle bars once more; the effects of adrenalin starting to wear off.

Gabriel pedals them through what Claire's parents call the poor. Claire looks around the small community. They pedal by the local convenient store, gas station, and post office. This area was surrounded by woods. Claire saw old looking houses, ones that looked abandoned. They pedal by a trailer park.

Finally, Gabriel slowed down the pedaling to turn off the main road onto a dirt trail. The ride was very bumpy on this road. Claire was starting to feel sore from sitting on the handle bars for so long.

A distance up the trail, Claire could see another one emerging. Gabriel took the left one, leading them deeper into the woods. There were a few patches of sunlight coming through the branches of the trees. It was beautiful here.

After what felt like another thirty minutes, Gabriel slowed down and turned on yet another trail. Up ahead, Claire could see a huge patch the sun hit. As they got closer, Claire thought she could see green grass. Finally, Gabriel slows the bike down then completely stops. Claire hops off the bars. Her butt was very sore and legs shaky. Gabriel got off his bike and leaned it against a tree. Claire turns to him and smiles.

"Now I am really excited to see what you wanted to show me." Gabriel smiles back and holds out his hand to her. She takes it and laces her fingers through his. He walks toward the gap in the trees where the trail stops. Pulling her through, Claire gasps at what she sees.

Gabriel had brought her to a meadow. The grass was the most green she has ever seen. There were flowers of many different colors that were everywhere. Claire could hear birds singing in the trees surrounding the area. She could also hear running water.

"This is beautiful, Gabriel," she says, breathlessly. Gabriel only smiles and pulls her gently. He takes her across the meadow to the other side.

On the other side was a cliff. Down below was a river. Claire turns to Gabriel and throws her arms around his neck. She brings his head towards her to kiss him on the lips. He returns her kiss with a soft one. She pulls back.

"This is the best gift I have ever received!" Claire exclaims to him. "How did you find this place?" Before answering her, Gabriel takes her hand again and walks her to a stump that was sitting near the edge of the cliff. He sits her down on the tree stump. Surrounding it, were a bunch of daisies. Reaching in between the flowers and the tree stump, Gabriel pulls out a couple of journals.

He sits cross legged in front of Claire, placing the journals in his lap. Gabriel turns his head to the left to look out across the cliff.

"My mother brought me here when I was eight years old. She told me this was her hiding place for whenever she got scared." Gabriel's voice breaks slightly. "She died a few months later." Claire gasps, bringing her hand up to her mouth. She sees tears brewing in Gabriel's eyes. Claire slides down off the stump to sit next to Gabriel. She sets his journals to the side and brings his head down to her shoulder. Gabriel can't help but cry.

"I miss her so much, Claire," he whispers.

"Shh… I know you do, Gabriel," she tells him, rubbing his shoulders and back. "We don't have to talk about it right now." Gabriel sits up.

"No. No… I do want to talk about it, Claire. I need to talk about it." Claire lies back on the soft grass. Gabriel lays next to her, laying halfway on her. He lays his head on her chest, placing his ear on her heart. Claire rubs his scalp, running her fingers through his hair. She starts humming the song Everlong to him. Claire closes her eyes. Enjoying the sun's warmth on her body, the nice breeze blowing through the meadow, giving her the chills at the same time. Gabriel's even breathing makes Claire relax more.

The final bell rings for the end of class. Finally, school was out for the weekend. Bethany Leon waited for her best friend, Claire, in their usual spot after school. They were supposed to ride the bus together.

One by one the busses started to arrive then leave. Claire still hadn't shown up. Dialing Claire's phone for the third time, Bethany has no choice but to get on the bus before she was left at school. Spotting Janelle, Bethany hangs up her cell and walks to her.

"Hey, have you seen Claire?" Bethany asks, sliding into the seat.

"Nope. She wasn't in biology," Janelle replies, taking her phone out to text her boyfriend. "Have you tried calling her?"

"Yeah," Bethany says. "She's not answering."

"Hmm…" Janelle replies. "Maybe she got picked up early and just doesn't have her phone on her."

"Maybe," Bethany agrees. She just shrugs and pulls out her Ipod.

Heidi Petrelli has been looking up at the clock ever since four o'clock. She specifically told Claire she had to be home. Seeing how it is almost 6:30 and almost time to leave, she walks down stairs to find Nathan.

Nathan has been pacing the living room with the phone in his hand. He has been calling Claire's cell phone nonstop since five o'clock. The phone rings, making him jump. Without looking at the caller I.D., he answers the phone.

"Claire!" He yells, angrily.

Heidi can hear Nathan talking in the living room.

"Oh, sorry, Pete. No, I am not alright. Claire didn't come home from school today." Nathan looks up when he sees Heidi walk in. She can hear Peter's voice on the other end.

"What do you mean she didn't come home?"

"The school called saying she missed the two last classes of the day. Then her friend calls asking for her. She isn't answering her cell phone either!"

"Calm down, Nathan. I'm sure she's fine," Peter tells him.

"Calm down? Calm down? I have an important business dinner that will affect my position if I don't show up in less than an hour and you tell me to calm down?" Nathan roars into the phone.

"I'm sorry!" Peter tries to say.

"And not to mention I can't go if there is no one here to watch Adrian and Adam!"

"Look, I will come over and watch the boys if you like."

"Oh, God, thank you so much, Peter."

"Don't mention it. I'll be over in a few."

In the next thirty minutes, Peter found himself inside the Petrelli Mansion. Nathan and Heidi were rushing out of the house.

"Thanks so much Peter!" Heidi tells him.

"It's no problem. I will see you guys in a few hours."

"Could you try Claire's number again, Pete?" Nathan asks him as he leaves.

"Yes, of course."

"Thanks."

Peter watches as they pull out of the driveway. He sighs and closes the door.


	4. Chapter 4

** Thanks for the reviews! Hope you like this. :] Let me know. **

Chapter Four

Claire opened her eyes to find that she could hardly see anything. She was laying on her side on soft grass. Rubbing her eyes, she sits up to look around, wondering where she was at. She felt someone stir next to her. That's when everything came back to her. Claire jumps up.

"Gabriel!" She yells for him, trying to wake him up. Gabriel sits up.

"Yeah?" He answers, groggily.

"Get up! Look how dark it is! We overslept!" Claire says, starting to panic. She walks towards the entrance of the meadow when she feels her bag vibrate. Pulling out her phone, she sees Peter calling her.

"Oh, God," she whispers to herself. Her stomach turns to ice.

"Hello?" Claire answers. Gabriel catches up to Claire. He can hear Peter's voice on the other end.

"Claire! Finally," Peter gasps. "Where the hell are you?"

"Hi, Uncle Peter. I…," She glances at Gabriel, unsure on what to say.

"I don't care what you were doing. Just tell me where you are and I will come pick you up," Peter tells her.

Claire lets out the breath she didn't realize she was holding. She puts her hand to the speaker so that Peter couldn't hear her.

"Where are we?" She whispers to Gabriel. They had gotten to where they last left his bike.

"Tell him to meet you at Sterling's Gas in Harsh Winds Community," He tells her.

"I'm at Sterling's Gas in Harsh Winds Community," Claire repeats to Peter. She can hear him take in a sharp intake of breath.

"Harsh Winds? Are you serious, Claire?" Peter yells.

"Yes," Claire replies in a small voice.

"God damn it. Don't go anywhere. I'll be right there." Peter hangs up on her. Claire turns to Gabriel. He wraps her arms around her.

"I am in so much trouble," she says, tears coming to her eyes. Gabriel kisses the top of her head then walks to his bike.

"I'm so sorry, Claire. This is all my fault."

"No, it's my fault too. I shouldn't have let you talked me into ditching and coming all the way out here." In the dark, Claire could see Gabriel bow his head. "But you know what, Gabriel?" she says, walking to him and climbing onto the bike. "It was so worth it."

Gabriel smiles to himself. He rides down the long trails back to the main road. Thirty minutes later, Gabriel rides up the parking lot of the gas station. Claire hops off the bike. In the light of the station, she can see Gabriel's hair was ruffled from laying on the ground. She laughs and reaches up to smooth the strands that were sticking up. Gabriel smiles at her. He stops her hand and pulls it to his mouth, planting a kiss on it.

"I am really sorry, Claire," Gabriel says to her. She just shakes her head.

"Don't apologize, Gabriel. Like I said, it was worth it." She smiles at him. Gabriel throws his arms around her, trying to tickle her. She laughs, trying to get away from him.

"Claire!" Claire looks up, quickly. Gabriel lets go of her and turns around. They hadn't heard Peter pull up. Peter walks up to them. "This is who you've been with?" Claire could hear the disgust in his voice.

"Uncle Peter-"

"No, Claire. Get in the car."

"But-"

"Now!" Claire looks shocked at her uncle. He has never raised his voice at her before. She looks at Gabriel.

"I'll see you later, Claire."

"Don't you speak to her!"

"Peter!"

"Get in the car, Claire!" Claire can feel tears well up in her eyes. She mouths 'I'm sorry' to Gabriel. Peter grabs Claire and pulls her to the car. She wrenches her arm away from him.

"Don't touch me!" She storms the rest of the way to Peter's car and gets into the front seat, slamming the door closed. Peter gets into the driver's seat. He starts the car and pulls out of the parking spot. Claire watches Gabriel. He just stares after them, watching the car pull out of the parking lot and drive away. Claire can hear Adam and Adrian chatting away in the backseat, completely oblivious to the thick air going between Peter and Claire. After awhile, Peter decides to break the silence.

"You're parents are real worried, Claire." Claire just ignores him.

"Are you seeing Gabriel Gray?" He tries again. Claire looks at him this time.

"So what if I am?" She retorts. She sees Peter shake his head.

"Claire, that boy is bad news."

"You don't know him!" Claire yells. Peter looks sharply at her.

"I know him better than you do!"

"No, you don't!"

"Claire-"

"I don't want to talk to you!" Claire turns her head to look out the window. She stares at the trees. Peter drives the rest of the way in silence. Claire pulls out her phone to find a thousand missed calls from her parents, Peter and Bethany. She deletes all the messages, not bothering to check them.

Peter pulls up the long driveway to the mansion. Claire's stomach does a few flip flops when she sees the limo sitting off to the side. Her parents were home. Peter pulls up right in front of the house. He shuts off the car. Claire turns her head to look at the mansion. She sees the front door open and her mother walk out. Adam opens the back door and both boys bolt from the car.

"Mom!" Claire can hear them yell. Heidi smiles at them and hugs both before watching them run into the house. Peter sighs and gets out of the car.

"Thank you so much, Peter," Claire can hear her mom say before Peter had shut the door. Claire couldn't hear his reply. Peter walks around to Claire's side and opens her door. Sighing, Claire unbuckles her seat belt. Heidi and Peter were already to the house. Claire slams the door closed and follows them. Heidi holds the front door open for her daughter.

"Your father is in the living room. He wants to talk to you," she says rather stiffly. Claire rolls her eyes. She sets her bag down next to the stairs and walks to the room right next to the front hall. She can hear Peter and Nathan talking. Heidi walks passed her to head up the stairs. She was still in her party dress. Claire knocks on the door.

"Come in," she hears her father say. Taking a deep breath, Claire walks in. Peter was standing at the fireplace, his back to her. Her father was sitting at the couch, a newspaper to the side and a scotch in his hand.

"So, Peter tells me you were out with Gabriel Gray," Nathan says to her. Claire only shrugs.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Claire?" Nathan asks, agitated at her lack of response. Claire rolls her eyes. She can hear the slurs of his words. Nathan stands up from the couch, draining the rest of his drink. He slams it on the coffee table. Claire jumps, looking surprised at him. Peter turns around.

"God damn it, Claire! Do you even care how worried your mother and I have been!" Nathan yells at her. "Do you know what you put us through?"

"Yeah. I can really tell how worried you were! It must have been hard for you to call Peter and have him come over while you and mom went out!" Claire yelled back. She was shaking. She had never yelled at her dad like that before.

"Claire!" Peter says, shocked.

"No, Peter! You don't know half the things that happen around here!" She turns back to Nathan. "You and mom come home drunk almost every night!"

"Claire, that's not true!" Nathan starts.

"Yes, it is! You're running for this state and you don't even know your own family! Do the people know that you're an alcoholic!"

"Stop this right now, Claire!"

"Fuck you, Dad!" Before Claire could do anything else, she feels her head snap to the side and her cheek stinging really bad. Tears instantly spring up in her eyes.

"Nathan!" Peter yells. Claire just turns and runs out of the living room. She runs up the stairs, walking to her bedroom. Sobs start wracking her body. She was about to enter her room when she hears someone walk up to her. She turns to see Adam standing there.

"Are you okay, Claire?" He asks. Claire breathes in deeply, trying to stop the tears leaking out of her eyes. Giving up, she kneels on one knee in front of Adam.

"Actually, I am not. I'm sorry for the way I've been treating you and Adrian lately." She wipes at her eyes.

"It's okay, Claire. We know you've been under a lot of pressure. We don't blame you."

"Thanks. You're a great brother," she says as she hugs him.

"Good night, Claire." He turns and walks down to his room.

Claire enters her own and turns on the light. She then walks to her bathroom and turns that light on too. Claire looks in the mirror. Her cheek was bright red from where she was slapped. It stung. Her father has never hit her before. She wipes at her tears and decides to take a shower.

An hour later, Claire walks out of her steaming bathroom, towel drying her hair. She remembers placing her bag at the foot of the stairs before entering the living room earlier. Sighing, she debates if she is willing to risk running into her father downstairs. Her desire to call Gabriel overruled any other thought.

Claire opens her door and walks slowly down the front staircase. At the bottom of the stairs, she can see the firelight flickering along the walls from the open door way of the living room. She picks up her shoulder bag. Quietly heading back to the stairs, she hears Peter walking out of the room.

"Oh, hi, Claire," Peter says to her. Claire turns around.

"Hey, Uncle Peter. Are you leaving?"

"Yeah. I have work in the morning," he replies. Claire sighs and rubs the back of her head.

"I'm sorry about earlier." Peter walks up to her and hugs her.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm just trying to look out for my favorite niece." He pulls back and looks down at her face. He touches her cheek. "Don't be mad at your dad. He's under a lot of pressure with the election and everything."

Claire rolls her eyes but then nods. Peter kisses her cheek and turns to leave. Claire shuts the front door behind him. She can hear his car start up and pull away from the house. Claire sighs. She looks in through the living room. She walks inside and sees her father standing at the fireplace, his back to her. Feeling a little nervous, Claire clears her throat. Nathan turns around.

"Dad…" Nathan holds up his hand.

"It's okay, Claire. I shouldn't have lost my temper with you. I'm sorry that I hit you." Claire shrugs.

"Well, I'm sorry for making you and mom worry. I should have called." Nathan nods and walks to his daughter, wrapping his arms around her. Claire hugs him back.

"You are still grounded, young lady," Nathan says as he steps back.

"Yes sir," Claire replies. Nathan scratches his head and yawns.

"It's really late, Claire," he says. We'll finish this conversation tomorrow."

"Okay," Claire says. Good night, Dad." Claire leaves the room and goes back up stairs to her bedroom.

Setting her bag on the desk, Claire grabs her cell phone from the pocket she usually keeps it at. She sees three missed calls from Bethany and a text message from Gabriel. Hitting the ignore button to Bethany's calls, she opens the text.

"I'm on my way." It read. The time said ten o'clock when the text was sent. It was almost midnight now. Next thing, Claire hears the familiar smacking sound on her window. Claire smiles and sets her phone down. She walks to the window and opens it.

"Claire waves at Gabriel and motions for him to come up. She watches as he climbs up the ivy. She walks backwards to give him room to climb in. Once in, Claire gives Gabriel a huge hug. She wraps her arms around him like usual. This time Gabriel inhales sharply and pulls back from Claire, wincing real bad.

Claire looks at him, surprised. Gabriel avoids her eyes. Before Gabriel can stop her, Claire lifts up the back of his shirt. She gasps at what she sees. Several red angry welts stared back at her. On his side was a huge purple and blue bruise. Gabriel pulls his shirt back down and turns away from Claire. Tears come to Claire's eyes. She walks up to Gabriel and touches his arm gently. Gabriel turns to her and wraps his arms around her. He rests his head against Claire's neck. She carefully hugs him back.

Claire breaks their hug and pulls Gabriel to the bed. She makes him sit down. She then goes into her bathroom. She grabs a washcloth from a cabinet and rinse it through warm water. She walks back into her room after shutting off the light.

Gabriel helps her take off his shirt. He lays on his stomach, sliding his arms under her pillow and resting his head on it. Claire sits on the edge of the bed and gently puts the washcloth over the welts. She carefully and gently presses down on them. Gabriel sucks in a breath. Tears leak out of his eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Gabriel," she whispers. "I'm going to get some ice, okay." Gabriel doesn't say anything. Claire gets up and slips out of the room. Ten minutes later, she comes back with a bowl of ice. She sets it on the bedside table next to her bed. She carefully removes the washcloth from his. The welts were still real red. Claire cringes at the sight. She shakes her head, wondering how anyone could do something like this to him.

She takes the washcloth to the bathroom and rinses it out with fresh water. She then walks back and sits as his side again. Claire takes a couple of ice cubes and wraps them in the washcloth. She presses it to one of the welts. For the next hour, she took care of Gabriel's back. The red swollenness had finally gone down.

Claire takes the half melted ice cubes into the bathroom. Gabriel had fallen asleep after the first half hour. She turned off all the lights and carefully climbs into the bed next to him. Gabriel's face was facing her. In the moonlight from her window, she can see howe much younger he looked when he slept. She reached over and brushed his hair out of his face. Eventually, the worrisome thoughts subsided and she was able to fall asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hope you like this. This one was harder to write. Curse Writer's Block. It's two o'clock in the morning here and I am hecka tired. I wanted to get a new chapter up tonight so sorry for the sucky ending. Haha Enjoy.**

Chapter Five

Claire opens her eyes to find Gabriel at the open window. She sits up.

"What are you doing?" She asks him. Gabriel turns around. It was still dark outside.

"I wanted to leave before your parents got up," he says. He turns back to the window and stares out it. Claire looks at her alarm clock.

"It's only 4:15, Gabriel. My parents won't wake up for awhile. It's the weekend, remember?"

"It's never the weekend for workaholics, Claire," he says a little roughly. Claire furrows her eyebrows. She crawls out of the bed and walks to him.

"Are you okay, Gabriel?" she asks, gently. He turns to look at her. Claire could see he has been crying.

"Everything has just been fucking peachy, Claire!" Claire looks taken aback.

"Gabe-" She looks away, speechless. Gabriel sighs and walks to her bed to sit down. He rests his elbows on his knees and put his head in his hands. Claire walks over to him. She stands in front of him, unsure what to do. She grabs his hands and sits herself on his thigh. He wraps his arms around her, laying his head on her chest. She wraps her arms around his head and shoulders.

"I'm sorry, Claire," she hears him say, his voice muffled by her shirt.

"Shh…" she whispers. "You don't have to apologize to me."

Gabriel lifts up his head to look at her face. She leans her head down where her forehead lays on his. They stare at each other for a moment. Claire closes her eyes and inhales Gabriel's scent. She opens her eyes. Gabriel brings his lips to Claire's, lightly brushing them. He pulls back to make sure that it's okay. She gives him the tiniest nod. He grabs the back of her head and kisses her deeply. Claire opens her mouth slightly to give him more access. He lightly brushes the tip of his tongue to hers, making them both feel sparks flare up in their stomachs. Claire situates herself on Gabriel's lap, putting a leg on each side. Gabriel moans quietly in her mouth from her movements.

Without thinking, Claire pushes Gabriel to make him lay on his back. He instantly gasps loudly and pushes her off of him. Gabriel jumps up from the bed. Claire looks confused at him but then remembers his back.

"Oh my god, Gabriel. I'm so sorry!" Gabriel looks down, embarrassed. He then turns and walks to the window. "Where are you going?"

"I need to get out of here," he says without looking back at her. Claire runs to the window.

"Can't we talk about this, Gabriel?" She asks, panicking slightly. Gabriel was already to the ground. He just runs to his bike.

"Gabriel!" Claire yells quietly. Gabriel doesn't answer her. She just watches him ride off down the street. Claire couldn't stop the tears falling down her cheeks. She slams her window closed and shuts her curtains. She goes back to bed and cries herself to sleep.

Gabriel rides the dark long way back to his community with Claire's voice echoing in his ears. The scene that happened in her bedroom kept replaying in his mind. Gabriel passed the worn out sign that told him he was entering Harsh Winds. The cold air felt exhilarating to him. If he wasn't so tired, he probably would have kept on riding to his secret place. The place he had shared with Claire just the day before. It felt like ages ago so much as happened.

Gabriel found himself turning onto the dirt road that took him into a trailer park. He actually did not live in a trailer. His father just owned the park. Their house laid way in the back. It was a standard brick home. Nothing like the palace Claire lived in. Gabriel pulled his bike to the side of the house, laying it against the wall right by his bedroom window.

Gabriel could smell the faint smell of marijuana. Someone in the park was up too. Gabriel pushed open his window, hoisted himself onto the ledge and swung his legs into his bedroom. He froze in place, listening intently. His father was most likely still passed out. Gabriel quietly kicks off his shoes and pants, just leaving himself in his t-shirt and boxers, and climbed into his twin sized bed. He turned onto his un-bruised side to stare at the wall, preparing himself for a long wait 'til his father left for work.

Claire rolled over on her side and opened her eyes. Her alarm clock read 9:15. She groaned and rubbed her tired eyes. She was hoping to sleep a little longer. Failing at falling back to sleep, Claire forces herself to get up. She felt groggy and a heavy burden had settled in her stomach, remembering what happened earlier that morning.

Claire walked over to her desk to check her cell phone. Gabriel hadn't called or texted her like she hoped he would. Setting her phone down, she walks to her bathroom to shower. Thirty minutes later, Claire dries and dresses herself in her skinny jeans and purple sweater. She puts on a pair of purple flats. She walks back to her bathroom to blow dry and straighten her hair. Once done, she walks out of her room and head to the stairs that lead to the kitchen.

Downstairs, she found Heidi making breakfast and Nathan, Adam and Adrian sitting at the island. Nathan was reading the morning paper and Adam and Adrian were watching cartoons on the television that was attached to the ceiling, hanging in a corner. Heidi looks up from flipping a waffle to see Claire walk in.

"Good morning, sweetheart," she says to her.

"Good morning. It smells nice in here. What's for breakfast?" Claire asks, sitting next to her father.

"Waffles. Claire, honey, I wanted to talk to you about something," Heidi tells her, glancing at Nathan. "Bethany called this morning, reminding me that you have homecoming next week. She asked if you could go dress shopping with her today. Heidi puts a couple of waffles on two plates and hands them to Adam and Adrian.

Claire groaned inside. She had forgotten about homecoming. She looks at Heidi.

"I'm grounded, though, aren't I?" She asks. Heidi places the rest of the waffles on three plates. She hands Nathan and Claire their's. She then sits across from Claire with her plate.

"Well, that's what we wanted to talk to you about." She looks at Adam. "Pass the syrup, Adam." He hands Heidi the bottle. She then passes it to Claire. Nathan sets the paper to the side and butters his waffles.

"Your father and I will allow you to go out with Bethany if you come home before eight o'clock tonight. Tomorrow you will be given extra chores to do." Claire looks up from her waffles.

"Really?" She asks, bewildered. Her parents have never pushed her punishment for later before.

"Yes," Heidi replies. "Homecoming is a big deal in a young lady's life. We want you to experience these things."

A bubble of excitement flares up in Claire's stomach. "Thank you, mom and dad!" She smiles brightly at them.

"I will give you $150 for today. I imagine homecoming dresses are expensive," Nathan tells Claire. "Actually, I will give you $250 to be on the safe side. What ever is left over, you can get accessories to go with your dress." Heidi rolls her eyes.

"Dresses more expensive than you think, Nathan," Heidi says. Nathan looks sharply at her. "I'll let you borrow my ATM, Claire. Your limit is five hundred dollars, okay?"

"Five hundred dollars?" He exclaims, astonished.

"Nathan, we live in New York for Christ's sake!" Heidi explains to her husband. She turns to her daughter. "No more than five hundred dollars."

"Okay," Claire answers. They finish up breakfast. "I'm going to go call Bethany to have her come pick me up now."

"Alright, Sweetie," Heidi says to her. Claire hands Heidi her now empty plate and rushes upstairs to her room. Claire picks up her cell phone and dials Bethany's number.

"Claire!" Bethany answers after the first ring. "Christ! Finally, Girl! Where the hell were you after school? I've been trying to get a hold of you all night!"

"Hello to you too, Beth. It's always nice to hear from you," Claire answers back. She can hear Bethany sigh dramatically on the other end. Claire rolls her eyes.

"Shut up, Claire," Bethany says. "So did your parents say you can go out today?"

"Yeah, they did. That's why I am calling you. I'm ready to go if you are."

"I've been ready since seven this morning. I'm heading out the door as we speak."

"Alrighty then. See you in a bit." They hang up. Claire walks into her bathroom and applies mascara to her eyelashes, not bothering with eye shadow today. She grabs her purse and puts her cell phone, chapstick and body spray in it. She then walks to the office and gets onto the computer to check her Facebook. Thirty minutes later, the loud door bell rings through out the house. Claire signs out of Facebook as she hears her father yell up the stairs.

"Claire, Bethany is here!"

Claire grabs her purse and walks down the front stairs. Bethany had already gone back out to her car. Her father was waiting at the front door.

"Remember eight o'clock, Claire. Is that understood?" He asks, sternly as Claire walks up to him.

"Yes," She answers. He stops her from going any farther, making her look at him.

"Yes what?" He asks.

"Yes sir," she replies.

"That's better," he says, opening the door for her. "Have fun and be safe. Claire waves and walks to Bethany' black car. She climbs into the front seat. Bethany pulls out of the driveway and onto the street.

Three hours later, Claire and Bethany headed to the food court to get some lunch. They had finally picked out their dresses. It took them forever to find the perfect dress because there was hardly a selection.

"That's what we get for waiting so long. If we had stuck to our original plans weeks ago, we would have better dresses," Bethany had complained. Claire didn't really care. She liked the dress she had picked out. Her dress was a red strapless dress that went down just below her knees. She had picked out white high heels and a white handbag. She also picked out a white necklace that had a red flower charm on it. She also got matching earrings that sat on her ears.

While they were waiting for their food to get done, Claire saw Jackson walk into the food court. He was with a couple of his friends. Claire turned her head away, quickly, hoping he didn't see her. Unfortunately, luck was not on her side.

"Claire, Bethany."

Bethany turns around to see who had said her name.

"Jackson!" She exclaims. She grabs Claire's arm to make her turn around. Claire forces a smile on her face.

"Hey, Jackson," Claire says. Bethany gives her a sharp look, noticing the distaste in her voice.

"Number 14," the server calls. Claire sighs of relief inwardly.

"Sorry," she says to Jackson. "But that is us. It was nice seeing you." Claire turns and walks to the counter to grab hers and Bethany's tray. To her dismay, Bethany was still talking to Jackson and his friends. She walks back to them.

"Claire, Jackson invited us to sit with him at his table," Bethany informs her.

"Oh, great," Claire says under her breath.

"Huh?" Bethany asks. Jackson gives them a smile.

"Show us the way," Claire responds. Jackson's smile grows wider. He leads them to a table a little way from the food counters. Claire sets the tray on the table and sits next to Bethany. They each grab their plates.

"So, what brings you girls to the mall this fine Saturday?" Jackson asks them. Claire snorts.

"What do you think? It's a mall," she says before Bethany has a chance to answer. Claire thought she saw Jackson's eyes darken for a moment, but then he laughs. After a second, everyone else laughs.

"You sure are a feisty one, Claire," he says. Claire rolls her eyes.

"She can be quite a riot at times," Bethany agrees. She gives Claire a look but then smiles at Jackson. "We were shopping for homecoming dresses."

"Oh, that's right. Homecoming is next week, isn't it?" He asks.

"Yeah," Bethany answers him. "Are you going, Jackson?" Claire looks at Bethany, wondering why she was asking him that.

"Actually, I'm not really sure," he starts, sounding a little sad. "Considering how I am currently dateless, I'm not sure if I really want to go."

Before Claire can say anything, Bethany bursts out, "Claire doesn't have a date either! You two should go together!" Claire's jaw drops. She kicks Bethany underneath the table. "Ow, Claire!" She cries out. Everyone looks at them.

"Oh, sorry, Bethany," Claire says, giving her a glare.

"I would love to take you, Claire!" Jackson exclaims. Before Claire can say anything else, Bethany nudges her real hard in the side without anyone noticing.

"Oh, how exciting!" Bethany says, smiling brightly. "We all have dates now!" Jackson smiles back. He and his friends get up from the table.

"Well, sorry to cut this short, but I told my mom I would be home soon. See you later, Bethany. Oh, and I will text you later, Claire." They walk off. Claire turns to Bethany, rage radiating off of her.

"What the HELL was that, Bethany?" Claire yells at her. Bethany looks shocked at her.

"What? I just did you a favor Claire! The least you can do is thank me." Bethany picks at her food. Claire starts shaking, she is so angry with her friend.

"Thank you? Bethany, I despise Jackson Cauldwell! You know this! Why do you think I have denied him all these years!"

"Cut the bullshit, Claire. You know you want him. How could you not?"

"Uh… how about because I have a boyfriend!" Claire instantly regretted the words that left her mouth.

"WHAT?" Bethany screams. Several people look in their direction. Claire smiles nervously at them. They look away.

"Never mind. Forget what I just said." Claire jumps up from her seat, grabs her bags, and leaves the table.

"Claire! Get back here," Bethany calls after her. Bethany grabs her bags and follows Claire. Claire walks out of the mall, quickly, heading towards the parking lot. She looks behind her to see Bethany running to catch up. Claire sighs and turns around.

"Look, Bethany. I really don't want to talk about it right now. Could you please just take me home?

"Claire, I'm your best friend. How could you keep something like that from me?" Bethany asks, as they approach her car. She unlocks the doors, throws the bags in the backseat and they both climb into the car.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I'm not sure if I really like this chapter. *shrugs* Tell me what you think. Thanks. :]**

Chapter Six

"I've been keeping it from everyone, Beth," Claire says, as Bethany pulls out of the mall parking lot. "My uncle found out last night and told my dad. My dad still hasn't said anything to me about it. He was pretty upset when he found out who it was." Claire looks out the window. They had gotten on the highway.

"Who is he, Claire?" Bethany asks. She couldn't help but feel hurt. They've been friends since preschool. She thought they had told each other everything. Bethany pulls off on an exit. Claire looks at her.

"Gabriel Gray," she says in a hushed tone. Bethany slams on the breaks, making Claire fall forward. She screams at their sudden stop.

"WHAT?" Bethany yells. Claire sits up and looks out the rear windshield. Thankfully, no one was behind them. She turns back to Bethany.

"What the hell, Beth!" Claire rounds on her. Bethany pulls to the side of the road and shuts off the car. She turns to look at Claire.

"Do you know who Gabriel Gray is?" She asks. Claire looks at her with a 'you've go to be kidding me' facial expression.

"Serious, Bethany? I just said he was my boyfriend." Bethany shakes her head.

"No, Claire. You don't understand. His dad killed his mom!" Bethany tells her, astonished that she didn't know this. Claire's jaw drops open.

"How could you say something like that?" She exclaims.

"Because it's true! That family is messed up! You shouldn't be with someone like Gabriel Gray! He's crazy!" Next moment Bethany cracks the back of her head with the window. She clutches her nose, blood gushing out. Tears spring up in Bethany's eyes. Claire shakes her hand, her knuckles were already bruising.

"Oh, my god! Claire!" Claire grabs her bags and opens the car door. Bethany grabs some napkins, trying to get the bleeding to stop. She yells for Claire.

"You bitch! My nose!" Claire just slams the car door closed and walks down the street. Tears start falling down her cheeks. She couldn't believe what just happened. She hears Bethany start up the car. She drives passed Claire, flipping her off as she drives by. Claire cries even harder.

Two hourse later, Claire found herself walking up the driveway to her house. Her father's limo driver was out there, washing the limo. He waves at her. She opens the front door and walks in. She hears her parents talking in the living room. Claire quietly walks to the stairs, trying not to get their attention. Her mother walked out when Claire was halfway up the stairs.

"Oh, your home, Claire. How was your day?" Heidi asks.

"I don't want to talk about it," Claire says, rather rudely. Her mother sighs and walks to the kitchen. Claire enters her bedroom, slamming the door closed and placing the bags next on the floor next to her dresser. She paces her room, wondering what to do. She tops and pulls out her cell phone. She dialed Gabriel's cell. After five rings, it went to voice mail.

"Gabriel, I really need to talk to you. Please call me back." She hangs up and tosses her phone on the bed. Sighing, she walks to the office to get onto the internet. Her Facebook newsfeed was flooding with status updates about her punching Bethany. She rolls her eyes. The phone next to her rings, but she ignores it, letting her parents answer. After ten minutes, she hears Nathan yelling for her downstairs. Claire closes her eyes, her heart skipping a few beats. She had a feeling she knew what her father wanted.

"CLAIRE!" Claire jumps. He sounded furious. Signing out of her Facebook, she walks out and heads downstairs.

"Calm down, Nathan," she hears her mother say to him. Claire stops at the foot of the stairs and listens to her parents' conversation.

"Heidi, she had broken the girl's nose! Her mother is threatening to go to the police if we don't pay the hospital bill! Do you have any idea what this will look like if it gets out to the papers?" Heidi doesn't say anything. Claire takes a deep breath and enters the room. Nathan turns from Heidi to look at Claire. Heidi shakes her head and walks passed Claire to leave the room.

"You punched Bethany?" Nathan says to Claire.

"Yes, but she deserved it!"

"Claire, her mother just called me saying I have to pay the hospital bill and if I don't, she's going to press charges!"

"Let her, Dad! This is my problem, let me deal with it!" Nathan just stares at her, astonished. He walks a few steps towards her. Claire stands there, holding her ground.

"Claire, what ever you do that causes attention to the press falls back on me! Don't you understand what this could do to me?"" Claire's jaw drops. She scoffs. How typical of Nathan to turn everything around where it always effects him. Nathan scowls. "Besides, I thought she was your best friend! Why did you hit her?"

"God, Dad. It's not really any of your business what I do! Do whatever you want. I don't really care." Claire turns to leave, but Nathan grabs her arm, making her turn back. She gasps at how hard he grabbed her.

"Don't you walk away from me, young lady! This is serious! I thought I had raised you better. If you have a problem, you try to talk it out, not resort to violence." Claire scoffs again and shakes her head. Nathan gives her a confused look. She looks down at his hand wraped around her upper arm and then looks up at his face.

"I don't know what's wrong with me, dad" she says, sarcastically. "I guess it just runs in the family." Nathan exhales sharply but lets go of Claire. Claire grabs the spot where her father was just holding. She fingers it lightly. Nathan walks over to the counter that had his bottles of scotch and bourbon to pur himself a drink. Claire stands there, watching him.

"I'm sorry, Claire," Nathan tells her, turning to walk to the couch. He sits down, patting the seat next to him. Claire walks over and sits down.

"I don't mean to cause such a mess for the papers. I guess I just forget you're a politician and the people come first." Nathan looks sharply at Claire. He sets his drink on the table.

"You know that is not true, Claire," He scolds her slightly. Claire looks into his eyes.

"Honestly, I don't know what's true anymore," Claire whispers. She feels tears prick at her eyes. She quickly looks away. Nathan sighs. He grabs her chin lightly to make her look at him.

"You are my daughter, Claire. Nothing will ever come before you. I know I get mad and yell, and I'm sorry for that. But I get so worried about you. There are a lot of people out there who would hurt you, your mother and your brothers to get back at me." He lets his hand drop on the couch. He takes another drink. "I just want what's best for you." He wipes at the tears that fall down Claire's cheeks. She gives him a small smile.

"I will call Bethany tonight and try to work things out with her," she tells him.

"Yes, you will. Violence really is never the answer, Claire. But you are a Petrelli and we do have tempers." Claire laughs. Nathan smiles at her.

"I'm sorry, Dad," she says going serious again.

"We'll get this sorted out, alright?"

"Okay," she answers. They both get up from the couch. He kisses Claire on the cheek.

"Now go call Bethany," he tells her. She nods and turns to walk out of the living room. As she was about to walk away, Nathan swats her butt, catching her off guard.

"Hey!" Claire exclaims, turning back.

"You're never old enough for spankings, Claire bear," he says, smiling. Claire just rolls her eyes and leaves the room. She walks up the stairs and goes into her bedroom, closing the door behind her.

"Bethany here. Well, actually, I'm not. So, leave me a message. Bye!"

"Hey, it's me. Claire. I would like to talk to you as soon as possible. So, please call me back."

"I know you probably hate me, but please let me explain. Call me."

"I'm really really sorry, Beth!"

Claire has been trying to get a hold of Bethany for hours. She picks up her cell phone once more and dials Bethany's house number. Her mom answers after the third ring.

"Hello?" She says into the phone. Claire groans inwardly. She was hoping just to leave a message on the answering machine.

"Hi, Mrs. Leon. It's Claire," She says, nervously.

"Claire!" Mrs. Leon gasps. "You have some nerve calling here. Did your father speak to you?"

"Yes, ma'am, he did. I wanted to call and apologize. I was wondering if I could speak to Bethany. Is she home yet?"

"Indeed she is, but I am afraid you cannot speak to her. The doctor gave her morphine and it put her right to sleep." Claire feels a bucket of guilt wash over her. She gulps.

"Oh, god. I am so terribly sorry, Mrs. Leon. I have no idea wha-"

"Don't bother telling me, Claire. You need to tell Bethany this. You can call back tomorrow to see how she is."

Yes, ma'am."

"Good night, Claire."

"Good night, Mrs. Leon." They hang up. A knock is heard on Claire's door. Nathan pokes his head in.

"Did you get to talk to her?" He asks. Claire shakes her head.

"No. Her mom said she was asleep." Claire sighs. "She sounded pretty upset."

"I bet. Well, your mother wants you down in the kitchen. Dinner is about ready. Your Uncle Peter and Grandma Angela are coming over." Claire scowls.

"Grandma Angela?" Claire asks. She didn't really get along with her grandmother.

"Yes and you better be polite, Claire. It's not every day you see her. So no lip, is that clear?" He asks sternly.

"Yes sir," she replies. Nathan nods then leaves, closing the door. Claire lets out a breath.

"Just my day," she says to herself as she gets up from her desk. She was finishing up an essay she had to write for English class. They had just got done reading The Crucible and had to write a five page essay on the Salem Witch Trials. She walks to her closet and changes into a short sleeved white blouse and black knee length skirt. Whenever her grandmother came over, they all had to look nice. Her grandma was a little old fashion.

Claire walks into her bathroom to brush out her hair. Something on her arm catches her attention while she was looking in the mirror. She holds out her right arm and looks down. A couple of finger shaped bruises were circling around her arm right above her elbow. She scowls and looks back in the mirror. She blinks back the tears that came to her eyes and takes a deep breath. She pulls down her sleeve, trying to cover the bruises.

The doorbell rings through out the house, making Claire jump. She quickly walks out of the bathroom then her bedroom, shutting off all the lights as she goes. She walks to the stairs that go into the kitchen. Her mother looks up from setting a roast on the stove she just pulled out of the oven. It smelled real nice in here.

"Finally, Claire. I need you to set the dining room table," Heidi says to her, rushing to set a pan of rolls into the oven.

"Okay," Claire says as she walks to the cabinets to grab a stack of plates. She takes them into the dining room. Adam and Adrian had already set the place mats. She went around the table, setting a plate on each mat. She then goes back to the kitchen to grab silverware and glasses. Right when Claire finished, Angela Petrelli had walked into the dining room. Claire forces a smile on her face.

"Hello, Grandmother," she says. Angela smiles back.

"Hello, Claire, dear. Is your mother in the kitchen?"

"Where else would she be?" Claire asks. Angela lifts an eyebrow at her. She just purses her lips and walks into the kitchen. Claire rolls her eyes. She walks out into the hall and down to the living room. Her Uncle, father and brothers had the television on. They were watching a baseball game.

"Hey, Uncle Peter," Claire says, walking to him and giving him a hug.

"Hey, Claire," He says, hugging her back. He steps back and walks to the couch, sitting next to Nathan. Claire walks out and slips upstairs, heading back to her bedroom. She grabs her phone to see if she had any missed calls. She did have a text message from Gabriel asking her to call him at ten o'clock. Claire looks at her alarm clock to see it was only 6:30. She sighs and sets her phone back down as she hears her mother call for her. Claire quickly walks back downstairs to the dining room to find everyone sitting at the table already. Nathan and Heidi were sitting at the ends. Peter and Angela were sitting on one side and Adrian and Adam were on the other. Claire slips in her seat that was across from Angela and next to Adam on. She was positioned closer to Heidi.

"Where were you, Claire?" Angela asks. Nathan looks sharply at Claire but doesn't say anything. Claire hands Heidi her plate.

"I don't see how that is any of your concern," She replies, taking her filled plate from Heidi. Heidi gasps and Nathan furrows his eyebrows.

"Claire, that is no way to speak to your grandmother," Heidi reprimanded her daughter. Claire only shrugs. "Apologize to her."

"It's fine, Heidi," Angela says handing her daughter-in-law her plate as well. "I was just wondering if she was talking to that Gabriel Gray." Claire looks surprised at Angela but she recovers and changes her face to a neutral one. Heidi hands Angela her plate and sits down. Everyone already had food on their plates.

"I have no idea who you are talking about," Claire says. In the corner of her eye, she sees Peter look at her. Everyone starts eating.

"Oh, I think you do," Angela says, still looking at her granddaughter. "Do you know who he is?" Claire drops her fork on her plate. The sound clatters around the room. Nathan stops eating to look at Claire. Claire looks up to glare at Angela.

"Why have I been hearing that a lot lately?" Claire asks. "It's none of yours or anyone else's business who I know!" Claire sits back in her chair, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Actually, it is my business, Claire," Angela starts but Claire interrupts her.

"Oh, I forgot that you're my best friend and know everything about me. You come over every weekend to play Life with us or call every night to ask me about school. So how could I forget to tell you about my boyfriend?"

That's enough, Claire," Nathan warns. "And what do you mean boyfriend?" Claire pushes her plate away from herself. Nathan and Heidi look up shocked. Claire stands up and storms to the kitchen.

"Claire!" She hears Nathan call. Nathan stands up and goes after her. Claire turns around quickly to see Nathan storm in.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Claire?" Nathan yells. "Gabriel Gray is your boyfriend?"

"I don't want to talk about his!" Claire yells back. Angela walks in. "God!" Claire heads to the stairs.

"Where the hell do you think you are going?" Nathan yells at her.

"I'm going to my room!" Claire was about to run up the stairs when Nathan stops her.

"You don't walk away until you are excused! I don't know what has gotten into you lately, but it better stop, Claire!"

"Oh, that's rich coming from you, Dad!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Nathan's face was red with anger. Claire just folds her arms across her chest. Angela walks to Nathan resting her hand on his shoulder. Nathan tries to calm his breathing.

"Why don't you go back into the dining room, Nathan," Angela tells him. He looks at Claire one more time before nodding and walking back to the other room. Angela watches him leave then turns back to Claire. She just glares at her.

"Your boyfriend is not a stable boy," she starts. Claire couldn't believe this.

"He's perfectly fine!" Claire yells.

"No, Claire. He is not. He comes from a horrible family. His father-"

"Save it Angela! I could careless what you have to say. Gabriel is-" Before Claire could say another word, Angela backhands her across the face. Claire gasps and clutches her cheek. She looks at her grandmother, shocked.

"You listen to me, Claire, and you listen good." Claire furrows her eyebrows but doesn't say anything. She drops her hand from her cheek, it still stung. "You need to stop seeing Gabriel."

"What?" Claire says, shocked. "No! I'm not going to stop-"

"That wasn't a suggestion, Claire. It was a demand. That boy will only bring you harm. He needs to be put in a place. Somewhere far away from society."

"You bitch," Claire whispers. Angela only stares at Claire. "What makes you think I'm going to stop seeing him?" Angela smiles which makes Claire confused.

"I know you more than you think, Claire. You did get that mouth of yours from me." Claire just rolls her eyes. "We'll talk about this later. Now lets go back and finish that marvelous meal your mother prepared."

Claire looks like she was about to argue but thought better of it. She follows Angela back to the dining room. Everyone looks up at Claire but doesn't say anything. She sits down and everyone continues where they left off.

An hour later, Claire found herself helping her mother clean up. Adam and Adrian had gone upstairs to play video games. Everyone else was in the dining room. Once done, Claire and Heidi went back into the dining room to find Nathan and Peter in an intense game of poker. Another hour later, Peter and Angela were heading out the door. Claire hugs Peter and watches them get into his car and drive away. Claire turns to go upstairs when Nathan stops her once again. He turns and walks into the living room ,expecting Claire to follow him. Heidi had gone upstairs already.

"Claire, I'm having your cell phone turned off tomorrow," Nathan tells her. Claire scowls.

"Why?" She asks.

"You are grounded for the month," he answers.

"Month?" She repeats, astonished.

"Yes, a month. You are not allowed your phone and you are grounded off the internet. You are to only go to school and you need to come home straight after" Claire glares at him.

"This is not fair! I didn't do anything!'

"You are also not allowed to go to homecoming next weekend," he continues as if she didn't say anything.

"Dad! I have to go to homeco-"

"You have to come home and stay home, Claire. I am serious. You are to stay away from that boy. You've changed so much since you've been seeing him."

"You don't know how long I've been with Gabriel!" Claire yells.

"I don't care," he says, calmly. "It's going to stop. I'm tired and want to be left alone now. Go to your room." Claire stares at him shocked.

"Dad-"

"GO!" He yells at her. She turns and runs up the stairs to her bedroom, crying.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Lately when I have been trying to update my stories, every time I click on the story it says Error has occurred. It is very frustrating. It's not allowing me to update this! It happens randomly. (Who knows when you all will receive this update) Has this been happening to you? Anyway, I hope you like this. SO much drama! **

Chapter Seven

When Claire got to her bedroom, she noticed the curtains were blowing back. Her window was open. In the corner of her eye, she saw someone sitting on her bed. Gabriel stands up. He can see the tears streaming down her face. Claire quickly closes her bedroom door behind her.

"What are you doing here?" She whispers. She wipes at her eyes, but the tears wouldn't stop. She sighs heavily.

"I... I wanted to see you," Gabriel answers her. He looks down at the floor.

"You haven't spoken to me all day! I called you!" Claire whisper yells at him. Gabriel looks up at her. He doesn't know what to say. Claire walks to her bathroom and slams the door closed. Gabriel walks to the door and quietly knocks on it.

"Claire… I'm sorry," Gabriel says to the closed door. Claire leans her back against the other side of the door. She sobs quietly. Gabriel can hear her and knocks again. "Please, let me in." Claire moves away from the door and sits at the edge of her bathtub. Gabriel turns the knob to find the door unlocked. He slowly opens it and walks in, closing the door softly behind him. He walks to Claire and sits down on the floor in front of her. He looks up at her tear stained face. She looks back into his.

"They found out about us, Gabriel," she whispers. Gabriel doesn't look surprised. He shakes his head.

"They're not too happy, are they?" He says. She just shakes her head.

"Did your father kill your mother?" Claire asks him. Gabriel's jaw drops open. He looks away from her. "Everyone keeps telling me that." He quickly looks back at her.

"I… I…" He didn't know what to say. Claire could see tears come to his eyes. She slides off the tub and sits next to him. She brings his head down to her neck and wraps her arms around him, cradling him. He pulls back from her.

"I think he did, Claire," Gabriel whispers to her. She stares at his brown beautiful eyes. "I think I remember."

"Shh… we don't have to talk about it right now." He just shakes his head.

"I want you to know." Claire nods. He leans back against the sink cabinets and breathes out slowly. Claire leans into him and rests her head against his arm.

"My father is an alcoholic as you well know. He used to hit my mom. He put her in the hospital once." Gabriel shuts his eyes, images flashing through his mind. "She was tired of it. The only reason she stayed was for me. She got a job behind his back and was saving up so that she can take me and her far away from him. He never even wanted me. I don't know why he didn't just let us go. He couldn't stand to be alone, I guess. Well, finally, came the day that she had enough money. The day that she died, she told me to go to school like normal so he wouldn't get suspicious. She was going to pick me up during lunch time. Well, I waited and waited. After school came and went, and she still hadn't picked me up." Claire looks up at Gabriel. His voice had broken, but he kept going.

"My dad's car pulled into the parking lot. It was much later by now. I was the last kid, waiting. I remember asking him where mom was and he told me she left us. He said that she got tired of me and packed her crap and left. Then he started calling her a whole bunch of horrible names. I couldn't believe it. When we got home, I ran into the house and looked through all the rooms. She was nowhere. I kept thinking to myself 'there is no way that she would have left me.' I threw myself on my bed and cried. I had put my hands underneath my pillow and felt something. I pulled it out to find it was a letter."

Claire wiped at the tears that were falling down her face. Gabriel cleared his throat but continued.

"It was a letter from her. She seemed to know something bad was going to happen. She wrote me a good bye letter just in case she didn't come to get me. She wanted me to know she wouldn't ever leave me." Gabriel couldn't talk anymore. Claire climbed into his lap and rested her head against his chest. He pulled her in tight.

"I'm so sorry, Gabriel," She whispers.

"I guess your family thinks the apple doesn't fall far from the tree," He says to her. She looks up at his face. She grabs his head and kisses him deeply. He kisses her back. She pulls back.

"I punched Bethany today," Claire tells him. He lifts an eyebrow at her. "She called you crazy." Gabriel starts laughing. "What?" She asks, confused. He was laughing so hard tears were coming to his eyes. Finally, he calms down.

"Claire, I am not worth fighting over," He says to her. Claire gasps.

"Don't ever say that, Gabriel Gray! All day was nothing but arguing about you! My grandmother even slapped me! Don't you ever tell me you're not worth anything!" Gabriel looks into Claire's angry green eyes. He touches her cheek.

"I'm sorry that you got slapped, Claire," He says. Claire just rolls her eyes.

"Shut up," She replies. He sighs. "How are you feeling, anyway?" Gabriel furrows his eyebrows but then realizes what she was talking about.

"I'm doing better, but I'm still sore, especially my side. I guess that what happens when someone kicks you." Gabriel sighs again. Claire bites her lip. She wasn't really sure what to say to that.

"Isn't there someplace else you can stay? Like a grandparent's house or something?" Gabriel only shakes his head. Claire rests her head against his chest. She can hear his heart hammering away. It comforted her. Gabriel places his hand underneath her chin to have her look up at his face.

"I love you Claire Elizabeth Petrelli," He tells her.

"I love you too, Gabriel Thomas Gray." He lowers his face to meet her lips. Claire situates herself where she is straddling his lap. She kisses him back with fervor. Gabriel clutches her thighs, bringing her closer to him. She can feel a hardness in his jeans against her. Gabriel pulls back and pushes her from her neck. He plants soft light kisses on her neck that gave her the chills. He places a hand at the bottom of her back and places it under her shirt. Claire kisses him again, their tongues wrestling together. Gabriel inches his hand up her back towards her bra. Claire pulls back, breathing hard. She looks into Gabriel's eyes. They were dark with lust. She stops his hand.

"Lets shower together," She whispers. Gabriel lifts both eyebrows at her.

"Are you sure?" His voice was hoarse. He clears his throat. Claire nods. She reaches down and pulls her shirt off. She then reaches behind her to unclasp and pulls off her bra. Gabriel's eyes widen slightly. He gulps and turns his head away. She grabs his hand and places it over her heart.

"I told you, Gabriel. I love you," she says. He gulps again but nods. Claire gets off his lap and stands up. She gives him her hand to help him stand up. She helps him take off his hoodie and tee shirt. He was lean but had some muscle. In the mirror, she can see the welts on his were still there. She cringes a little. She takes a deep breath and turns around to start the shower.

"We don't have to do this, Claire," Gabriel says to her, sensing her hesitation. Claire turns back to him and gives him a small smile.

"I want to," She replies. He smiles back and walks to her, enveloping her in a hug. He rubs circles on her smooth bare back. She pulls back and kisses him passionately.

An hour later, Claire was brushing her wet hair. Gabriel was messing with her IPod. He placed it on her IHome. Claire hears the song Everlong by the Foo Fighters start playing. She smiles to herself. He knew this was her favorite song. Claire walks out of the bathroom, shutting off the light. Gabriel walks to her and pulls her to the middle of the room. He starts swaying to the music.

"Hello, I've waited here for you. Everlong," He sings to her. Claire laughs and starts dancing with him.

"Tonight I throw myself into and out of the red out of my head," She sings back.

"She sang," He whispers. He stops dancing and pulls Claire into a deep kiss. She kisses him back.

"The only thing I'll ever ask of you," she sings quietly to him. "You've got to promise not to stop when I say when."

"She sang," he sings back. Claire wraps her arms around him. He does the same. They start dancing slowly together, their moves not really matching the music. Gabriel breaks their embrace. The song starts over again. He had put it on repeat. He walks to the door to shut off the lights. Claire walks over to the bed to lie down. He walks back to her IHome and switched the song to the acoustic version of Everlong. He then walks to the bed, climbing in next to her.

Claire turns on her side where she is facing the wall. Gabriel lies behind her, sliding his arm under her head and laying his other arm over her side. She leans back into him. They lay there listening to the song. It seemed much sadder when done this way. He starts humming along with the song. Gabriel lightly runs his fingers down Claire's arm, giving her goosebumps. She felt relaxed. Closing her eyes, she lets the music lull her to sleep.

Angela Petrelli opens her eyes, gasping. She just had a dream about her granddaughter, Claire. She looks at the alarm clock that sat on the table next to her bed. It was 7:10 in the morning. She quickly gets up from her bed and runs to her phone. She dials her oldest son's house number. After a few rings a groggy voice answers.

"Hello?" Nathan says into the phone. He was still half way asleep.

"Nathan! Oh, good," Angela replies. Nathan realizes who he's talking to. He wakes up a bit more.

"Ma? Is that you? Is everything alright?"

"No! I had a nightmare about Claire last night. Is she home?"

"She should be. Ma, what's going on?"

"Go check on her, Nathan!" She can hear him getting up.

"Okay, okay," He tells her. A few moments later, she hear knocking on a door.

"Claire?" She can hear a door open. Then she can hear him gasp.

"Claire!" He yells. "I have to call you back, Ma!" The phone hangs up before she can say another word.

"Claire!" Claire opens her eyes to find Nathan standing in her room, looking livid. She feels Gabriel stir next to her.

"Oh, shit," She hears Gabriel say.

"Oh, shit is right boy!" Nathan yells. Claire sits up.

"Dad-"

"No, Claire! Get up! Both of you!"

Gabriel jumps out of the bed. He was only in his tee shirt and boxers. Claire climbs out of the bed as well.

"Put your clothes on. I'm calling your father!"

"No, Dad! You can't!" Claire yells at him. Nathan leaves the room. Gabriel was zipping his jeans up. He looked terrified.

"Oh, god, Gabriel! I'm so sorry!" He just shakes his head.

"It's fine, Claire. We were bound to get caught anyway." Tears start falling down her face.

"Get downstairs!" They hear Nathan yell. Gabriel slipped into his shoes. They kiss quickly before leaving the room.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Samson Gray was in a deep sleep when he hears a piercing sound. He tried ignoring it, but the more he woke up, the louder the sound got. He realized it was the telephone. Starting to feel pissed off, he wonders why his son, Gabriel, hasn't answered the phone.

"Gabriel!" He yells out. "Answer the fucking phone!" The ringing continues. "God damn it!" He forces himself out of bed and walks out to the kitchen to answer the phone.

"What!" He snarls into the phone.

"Mr. Gray?" Nathan asks.

"What is it?" He replies, nastily.

"This is Nathan Petrelli-" Nathan begins.

"You fucking politicians never give up, do you?" Samson yells. "I don't vote!"

"No, No! This has nothing to do with that!" Nathan tries again.

"Well, then spit it out!"

"I caught your son in the same bed as my daughter! I suggest you come pick him up this instant!" Samson's eyes grow. Of all the stupid shit his son does, he has to go and bang the son of a bitch politician's daughter. "Did you hear me!" Nathan screams. "I want him out of my house!"

"I'll be right there," Samson answers. They hang up. "Fuck!" He punches the wall next to the phone. He walks into his bedroom and pulls on his jeans that were discarded on the floor from last night. He walked into the bathroom to brush his teeth real quick. Samson Gray liked to keep up appearances. He never left the house without brushing his hair and teeth. He puts his belt and shoes on. Grabbing his wallet and keys off his dresser, he walks out to his car.

Nathan was pacing the living room. He couldn't believe Claire would do something like this. He looked over at his daughter and Gabriel who were sitting on the couch, silently. The boy didn't look scared at all. He was just sitting there, nonchalant. Claire stands up and walks to Nathan.

"Dad, it really isn't that big of a deal."

"Bi- Big of a deal?" Nathan's voice goes up an octave wit every word. "CLAIRE, HE WAS IN YOUR BED!" Claire jumps back a bit. She has never seen her father this upset before. Gabriel stands up.

"Look, sir," Gabriel starts as he walks around the table to stand by Claire. "We weren't-"

"Don't say another word, boy." Nathan threatens. Right then the doorbell rings. Claire looks at Gabriel with a terrified face. Nathan walks out to answer the door. Before Nathan could say anything, Samson Gray storms into the house. Claire feels Gabriel flinch a bit.

"I am so sorry, Mr. Petrelli," Samson says.

"They are in there, Mr. Gray," Nathan replies, indicating to the room next to them. Samson enters.

"Gabriel," Samson says. To Claire, it seemed like the man was calm. To Gabriel, he knew the emotion that laid underneath the cool exterior. "Lets go now."

"Are you sure that's safe, Dad?" Gabriel asks. He steps forward toward him. Nathan enters through the doorway to walk to Claire's side.

"Don't start with me, Gabriel. Now lets go," He says in a deadly calm voice. Gabriel could see his facade was starting to slip. Gabriel was about to say something else but sees his dad's eyes darken and decides to hold his tongue.

"Thank you for calling me, Mr. Petrelli," Samson tells Nathan, turning to look at him. "I will make sure, Gabriel here, won't cause anymore problems." He pats Gabriel on the shoulder, a little too hard. Gabriel flinches. Nathan notices but doesn't say anything. "Well, good day, sir." Samson nods his head at Nathan and walks to the front door, opening it and stepping outside.

Claire runs to Gabriel, throwing her arms around his neck. She was crying. Gabriel rests his forehead on her shoulder and wraps his arms around her.

"I'm sorry, Gabriel," she whispers. Gabriel just shakes his head. Nathan lets them have their moment then clears his throat. Gabriel quickly steps back.

"You're father is waiting for you," Nathan reminds him. He sees his father sitting in his car, staring straight ahead. Gabriel takes a deep breath and walks to the car, opening the passenger's side door and climbing in. They both sit there for a moment. Gabriel dares a look at his father. Next thing he sees is his father's hand fly out, the back of his hand connecting with Gabriel's nose and mouth. The impact caused Gabriel to have a nose bleed, and he bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. His head crashed back into the head rest. Tears sprang up in Gabriel's eyes. He brought his hand up to his nose to try to stop the bleeding.

"There are napkins in the glove compartment," Samson says in a low voice. Gabriel glances at it. "Clean yourself up before someone sees you." Gabriel opens it up quickly. Don't get blood anywhere!"

"I wouldn't have to if you didn't hit me," Gabriel says, dabbing napkins at his nose. That comment earned him a closed fist to his chest. He grunted. He rubs at the spot, smearing blood on his tee shirt. He groans quietly. Samson starts the car and pulls out of the driveway, getting onto the road.

"Fuck, Gabriel!" Do you like getting beat?" Samson yells at him as soon as they got onto the highway. Gabriel had finally got the bleeding to stop. He gives his dad a look.

"Of course, dad, I fucking love it!" Gabriel yells back. Samson clenched the wheel really hard. Gabriel turns his head to look out the window. He rests his forehead against the cool glass and closes his eyes. Awhile later, they had gotten to their community. Samson turns onto the dirt road that goes into the trailer park. He drives all the way to the end and parks in front of the house. Gabriel quickly opens the door and bolts from the car to the house.

"Gabriel!" Samson yells after him. He slams the car door closed and walks into the house. He goes to Gabriel's bedroom. Gabriel was at his dresser, pulling out clean clothes. Gabriel turns quickly to see his father standing there. Samson starts to unbuckle his belt.

"Dad-" Gabriel begins to say. The welts on his back already started to burn, just by remembering last time.

"You thought you weren't going to be punished?" Samson says, pulling his belt off and making a loop with it. He grabs the two ends and walks closer to Gabriel. Gabriel's eyes widen. He swallows.

"I figured you hitting me in the car was enough!" Gabriel yelled at him.

"Turn around, Gabriel," Samson tells him. He had backed Gabriel to the wall.

"No-" Samson swings the belt at Gabriel's side. It smacked his arms and side really hard. Gabriel gasps at the familiar pain. Samson grabs his arm and pushes him onto the bed. Gabriel falls on his hands and knees. Before he could do anything else, his father hit him over and over again on his back. Gabriel bites his lip trying to keep from crying out but after the fifth time, he couldn't hold it in any longer. He falls onto his side but his father kept swinging the belt down. After the twentieth hit, Samson stops. Gabriel lays there for a moment. He slowly looks up at his father. His body felt like it was on fire.

"Go take a shower," Samson tells him. "You got dried blood on your face." He turns and leaves the room, closing the door behind him. Gabriel lets out the breath he was holding. It seemed like he could feel each welt form. He hurt so badly. Carefully, he sits up. The slightest movements made his skin throb. He kicks off his shoes and jeans.

Gabriel slowly stands up from the bed. He walks out to the hallway cabinets next to the single bathroom in their house. He can hear Samson in his bedroom. He was lying back down. Gabriel grabs a towel and walks into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind him. Turning on the light, he looks into the mirror. There was dried blood smeared at his nose, caked at the corner of his mouth and smeared on his shirt. He slowly and carefully takes off his shirt. He lets it fall to the floor. In the mirror, he sees a bruise forming on his chest. There was also a bright red mark on his arm. He turns his back to the mirror and turns his head to see the damage. His back had a million red strap marks. Some were turning into welts. The welts that were already there looked worse. Tears come to his eyes again. The cool draft of the bathroom made his back sting even more. He takes off the rest of his clothes and turns on the water to his shower. He climbs in and slowly turns his back to the warm water. At first it stung but after awhile, it helped numb out some of the pain.

"His dad hurts him!" Claire was crying her eyes out. She knew something bad was going to happen to Gabriel. She couldn't stand to be in the same room as Nathan anymore. She runs upstairs to her room. Nathan could hear her bedroom door slam closed. He sighs and walks to the window. He peers out to find the Grays sitting out there. He watches them for a minute. He sees Samson hit Gabriel in the face. Nathan furrows his eyebrows. He just walks away, assuming the kid was being mouthy.

Nathan walks up to Claire's room and knocks on the door. He can hear her crying. He slowly opens the door. Claire looks up to see who was in her room.

"Claire-" Nathan starts.

"I don't want to talk to you!" She screams at him. He looks taken aback.

"CLAIRE!" He yells back. Claire jumps up from her bed.

"No, Dad! You don't know what you have done!"

"Hey! I'm not the one who is sneaking boys in the house!" Nathan yells at her. "You have no right to sneak people in! And of all the people it is Gabriel Gray!"

"What is so horrible about him? Why won't you tell me?" Claire screams. "Is it because he's poor? Or his father killed his mother? Are you afraid that Gabriel will be just like that? You're wrong about him!"

"You don't know what you are talking about, Claire!"

"Well, then explain it to me! He told me his story last night!"

"Was that all he did to you last night?" Claire gasps. More tears come to her eyes.

"You're a fucking asshole," Claire quietly says to him. "I love him." She then walks to her bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind her. She slides to the floor, bring her knees to her chest. She wraps her arms around her legs and rests her forehead on her knees, sobbing her heart out.

Nathan walks to the bathroom and listens to his heart broken daughter for a moment. He closes his eyes and places his hand on the door. He couldn't believe the guilt he was feeling. His daughter was the one who was supposed to be in trouble. He didn't understand why he was feeling this way. He hears approaching footsteps. He turns to see Heidi walk in.

"What's going on?" She had been asleep throughout the whole ordeal. "Were you fighting with Claire again?" Nathan walks to his wife. They walk down to their bedroom where he told her everything that had happened.

After awhile of crying, Claire decides to take a hot shower. She had a major headache from all the crying. An hour later, she emerges from her bathroom dressed in jeans and a black short sleeved tee shirt. She went to her cell phone to find she still had service. Her father hadn't shut it off yet. She sends Gabriel a text, telling him to call her when he gets a chance. She then heads to the stairs that lead to the kitchens. Before descending the stairs, Claire hears Nathan talking to Angela. She closed her eyes, trying to control her breathing. She did not want to see the two of them. They were talking about her.

"You must keep her away, Nathan! Gabriel is important to us. Once his powers start to show, I'm going to let Noah Bennet take him to Odessa, Texas," Angela was telling him. Claire didn't understand anything that they were saying. 'Powers? Odessa? WTF!' she thought.

"I believe Claire already has hers. She just doesn't know it yet. Last night when I first got there, I noticed bruises on her arm. Later, they were gone," Angela continued. Claire looks down at her arm to find the bruises gone. Her eyes widen. She hears Angela start talking again. "Also I slapped her later on that night. Her cheek was bright red for a minute then it faded. I believe she can heal herself."

Claire gasps. She claps her hand over her mouth. Nathan walks over to the bottom of the stairs and looks up. He sees Claire looking back at him. He sighs and looks at Angela. "Well, I have a feeling she now knows," He tells her.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Claire quickly turns around and runs to her bedroom. She slips on her flats and grabs her cell phone. Sticking it in her pocket, she runs to the window and shoves the curtains to open it. She hears someone knock on her door. She quickly sticks her leg out the window and put it on the top of the ivy ladder that was just below her window. Adjusting her weight, swings her other leg out. She carefully lowers a foot to the next step. Right then a bang is heard in her room. She looks through the window to see Nathan storm in. She tries to lower her other foot.

"Claire!" Nathan runs to the window. He grabs her hands that were still holding onto the ledge. Claire gasps.

"Let go of me!" Claire yells at him.

"Get back up here, Claire!" He tries to pull her up.

"NO!" She tries pulling an arm out of his grasp. "Let go!" She didn't realize she was leaning back. Nathan loosens his grip on accident. Claire's hand slips from his. Her whole body jerks back, making the other hand slip out. Her shocked face was the last thing Nathan saw before she crashed onto the ground.

"CLAIRE!" Nathan yells. He turns around and runs out of the room. He runs down the stairs.

"What's going on?" Heidi asks, watching him run passed her. He just ignores her. He sees the front door was already opened. He runs outside and around the side to where Claire was. He sees Angela had arrived before him. Claire was sitting up. She had blood splattered on her face. She was also crying. When he approached them, he could see Claire's wrist was bent in a position it wasn't supposed to be in. Some of her fingers were twisted. Nathan cringes.

"Oh my god, Claire," He starts. She looks up to glare at him.

"You pushed me, you son of a bitch!" Claire yells. Angela snaps her wrist to the way it was supposed to be. "OW!" Claire cries out. They hear her bones cracking and watch as the wrists mends itself. Claire's eyes widen. Angela twists her fingers the way they are supposed to be in. Re-breaking some bones so it could heal itself the right way. "Oh my god," Claire whispers.

"Come one, lets get you back inside," Angela says, standing up. Claire stands up as well.

"No!" She says and takes off running down the lawn to the end of the driveway.

"Claire!" Nathan yells after her. "God damn it!" He was about to take off after her, but Angela stops him.

"Let her go. She'll be back." Angela tells him.

"Ma, she just feel from a two story window! She's bound to have a concussion!" Nathan argues. Angela shakes her head.

"Did you not see what just happened? She's fine. She is just scared. She'll come back, demanding an explanation. She's a Petrelli, after all." Angela walks back to the house. Nathan sighs and follows her.

Claire pulls her cell phone out of her pocket to dial Gabriel's phone. After a few rings, he answers.

"Hello?" His voice sounded groggy as if he has been asleep.

"Gabriel!" Claire exclaims into the phone. "I need to see you. It's important." She hears Gabriel sigh.

"This isn't really a good time," He answers.

"I'm already on my way," Claire insisted. "I've been walking for two and a half hours." She hears Gabriel groan a bit as he sits up. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Where are you? I'll ride my bike to you." He tells her.

"I just passed the Harsh Winds sign," Claire replies.

"You're already here? Okay, I'll see you in a minute." He hangs up on her. Claire walks to Sterling's Gas station and goes in to get herself a water bottle. But then she remembers she didn't grab her wallet. Sighing she walks back outside to sit on the sidewalk to wait. Ten minutes later, she sees Gabriel pedaling on the street. She stands up.

"Gabriel!" She calls out for him. He turns his head to see who called his name. He sees Claire walking towards him. He also sees the blood splattered on her face. He pedals his bike to her and jumps off. The bike crashes to the ground.

"What happened to your face?" He asks, worriedly. Claire breaks into tears.

"I could ask you the same about you," She answers. Gabriel's lip was still a bit swollen. "Something has happened!" Gabriel furrows his eyebrows. He picks up his bike and climbs on. Claire climbs onto the handle bars. He pedals them to the meadow.

"So, you're telling me you can heal yourself?" Gabriel asks skepticism was etched in his voice. Claire rolls her eyes. She knew she had to do something to convince him. She could hardly believe it herself. She sighs and walks over to the tree stump. She pulls out one of Gabriel's spiral notebooks. Gabriel walks to her and watches as she untwines some of the binding. Taking the sharp end, she slices the top of her hand. He gasps as he sees blood run down her hand.

"Claire! Why the hell did you do that?" He yells at her, ripping the notebook from her hand.

Watch!" Claire screams at him. He looks down at her hand and to both of their astonishment, the wound healed. Gabriel drops the notebook and grabs her hand. He brings it up to his eyes and rubs his fingers over the spot. All that was left was the line of blood he smeared over her hand.

"Oh my god," Gabriel whispers. Claire shakes her head. He drops her hand. She sinks to the ground. He carefully lowers himself to the ground as well. He hissed as his shirt rubbed against his back. Claire looks at him.

"I sure could use that power," Gabriel says quietly. More tears fall down Claire's face.

"He beat you?" Claire whispered. She leaned onto his arm, resting her head on his shoulder, but he intakes a sharp breath. She sits up, looking worried at him. He lifts his long sleeve, revealing a strap mark welt on his arm. Claire gulped.

"I'm sorry, Gabriel," she says. He only shrugs. "I overheard my dad and grandmother talking," Claire tells him. "She said you are supposed to be getting powers too. She said you are real important to her. She's going to have a man named Noah Bennet take you to Odessa, Texas." Gabriel gives her a weird look. He stands up. "Where are you going?"

"I need to get home before my dad wakes up," Gabriel says, walking away from her. She stands up and follows him.

"Didn't you hear me, Gabriel?" Claire exclaims. They had gotten to his bike. "Someone might kidnap you!" He only shrugs and climbs onto his bike. "Don't you believe me? I mean, you saw my power for yourself!"

"I don't know what to believe, Claire. I just want to get home. Now hop on. I'll take you to the edge of the community." Claire looks at him, shocked.

"Gabriel-"

"Claire!" He yells. "Why are you so worried about me? It's not like it's going to affect you any!" Claire's jaw drops open.

"What are you saying? Why do you think I came all this way? I love you, Gabriel!"

"Maybe you shouldn't!" Gabriel yells back at her. Claire couldn't believe her ears.

"What?" She screams.

"Do you want to know the truth, Claire?" He jumps off his bike and throws it down. He walks to her, stopping right in front of her. "I made a bet, okay? I made a bet with a friend that I could make you fall for me and you sleep with me. It worked. I fucked you and now I get money. I don't want you anymore." Claire just stares at him.

"I don't believe you," She replies. "Why are you trying to do this to us! I know you love me!" She screams at him. Gabriel sighs again. He shakes his head. He pulls out to check the time then shoves it back into his pocket.

"If you want a ride, we need to get going. You're not worth another beating over." Claire gasps. She shoves him. The impact only made him take a step back.

"You son of a bitch," she screams at him. She starts crying again. She tries to push him again, but he grabs her arms to make her stop. She wrenches her arms out of his grip and swings her hand out. She slaps him across the face. His head snaps to the side, a bright red print was already forming. She feels sobs wrack her body.

"I HATE YOU!" She storms around him to start walking down the trail. He grabs her arm, making her turn back. He grabs her other arm and crashes his lips to hers. He forces her mouth open. She tries to push him away. She bites his tongue when it enters her mouth. He pulls back slightly and grabs her hair to force back her head. He plants light soft kisses on her neck. He knew she liked that.

"Gabriel!" She yells, but it wasn't as forceful. She moans a little. She stops fighting him and grabs the back of his head to attack his mouth. They tongue wrestle. Gabriel pulls his shirt off and throws it on the ground. He pushes Claire backwards where her back is against a tree. He unbuttons his jeans and helps her with her jeans. He lifts her, holding onto the tops of her thighs and positions himself. They kiss again.

An hour later, Claire and Gabriel were laying in the meadow. They both were laying on their backs, looking up at the sky. It was a clear blue sunny fall day. It was quite beautiful out. Gabriel turns his head to look at Claire. Her eyes were closed. She looked so beautiful. Her hair was splayed out around her head. He wipes at some tears that were escaping from under her eyelids. She opens her eyes to look into his.

"I'm so sorry, Claire," He whispers.

"I know," She whispers back. He turns on his side, resting against her. He kisses her lips, gently. She kisses back. They make love for the second time that day on the floor of their meadow. They fall asleep in each other's arms.

When Claire opens her eyes, it was dusk out. She sits up to find Gabriel gone. She quickly stand up and pulls on her clothes. She looks around to not find him anywhere.

"Gabriel?" She calls out. She hears a vehicle approach. It shuts off. Nathan walks through the part in the trees. Claire looks at him, confused. "How did you find me?" She asks. Nathan holds him his hand out for her. She slips into her shoes and walks to him.

"I'm so sorry, Claire," Nathan says quietly. She stops. She can see the pain in his face. "Gabriel got into an accident. He got hit by a car on his way home. He didn't make it." Claire's breath got caught in her throat. She shakes her head.

"No… No… that can't be. I was just with him earlier." Nathan looks down. Claire could see he was serious. She walks a few more steps towards Nathan when darkness succumbs her.


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks for the reviews, everyone. I hope you like where this story is going. I have a pretty good idea where I want it to go. Anyway, leave me your comments! Is there something you would like to see? Let me know! :]**

Chapter Ten

"Hello, I've waited here for you, Everlong."

Claire opens her eyes. She blinks away some tears. It has been two months since she found out about the death of Gabriel. She keeps dreaming about him, dreaming about the last night he stayed with her. His voice echoing in her head. Claire turns over on her side, a fresh wave of tears coming over her. She wraps her arms around her pillow and cries into it. Her heart felt heavy and she hardly ate anything. Her parents pulled her out of school, signing her up for home studies. She spent most of her days laying in bed, crying. Nathan and Heidi didn't know what to do.

Several weeks ago, they went with Claire to his funeral. It wasn't much a funeral. To their surprise, Samson Gray had actually called them to tell them about it. He said Gabriel was already buried. When they arrived at his grave, Claire had attacked Samson. She screamed and cursed, trying to hurt him. Nathan had finally gotten her to calm down and Samson left.

Claire sits up, remembering that day. Nathan and Heidi walked back to their car to give Claire some time. She had sunk to her knees in front of his tombstone. She pulled out her IPod and turned on Everlong for him. It was their song. Tears were streaming down her face.

"And I wonder, when I sing along with you, if everything would ever be this real forever? If anything could ever be this good again?" She sang to him. "The only thing I would ever ask of you, you got to promise not to stop when I say when."

"She sang."

Claire looked around. She thought she heard his voice. All she heard was the leaves of trees, rustling in the wind. She paused her music. She stood up from the ground, wiping grass and dirt from her jeans.

"Claire?" Claire turned her head to see her parents had walked back. They saw the whole thing.

"Did you hear that voice?" She had asked them. She had stopped crying.

"All we heard was you, sweetheart," Nathan told her. "Come on, lets go home." Claire had nodded. She stuck her IPod back in her pocket and followed her parents to their car.

All of a sudden, Claire felt real nauseous. She quickly jumps up from her bed and runs to her bathroom. She vomits into the toilet. She hears a knock on her bedroom door and then hears it open.

"Claire?" Nathan asked. Claire groans. She didn't want her father to see her like this. This was the third day of random sickness. She had a feeling she knew what that meant.

"Just a minute," She calls out, weakly. She flushes the toilet and stands up. She felt shaky.

"Claire, are you alright?" Nathan walks to her bathroom. She forgot to shut the door. Claire walks to the sink to rinse out her mouth.

"Yeah," she answers. "I think I might have eaten something bad." Nathan gives her a weird look.

"You've hardly eaten anything lately," Nathan replies. Claire splashes her face. It was still red from the crying she was doing earlier.

"I don't know then!" She snaps at him. Nathan looks taken aback.

"I'm sorry," He says, quietly. His daughter has been a ticking time bomb for the past two months. He didn't blame her though. He steps back to let her out. She walks to her bed and sits down. She looked pale to him. "I wanted to talk to you about something. Your grandmother suggested taking you to Paris for a few weeks. She said you could bring Bethany if you like. We called her parents already and they said they were fine with it, if you were."

Bethany had heard about what happened to Gabriel. She instantly pushed aside all that happened between her and Claire to be by her side. She truly was her best friend. Claire looks up from staring at her hands to look at her father.

"Paris?" She whispers. Nathan smiles at her and sits down next to her.

"Yes, sweetie," He answers. "You can shop at any place you like, eat at any restaurant you want, and see any show. How does that sound?"

"That sounds like something Bethany would love," Claire says. "What kind of friend would I be if I didn't let her experience something like that?" Nathan smiles, relief flooding his face. They've been trying to get Claire out of the house for days.

"Well, then. You should call Beth and I will call your grandmother," Nathan tells her. Claire smiles weakly at him.

"Everything will be alright, Claire. Trust me. It will eventually stop hurting," Nathan says. Claire's eyes fill with tears again. He wipes away some that fell down her cheeks.

"When?" Claire whispers. Nathan doesn't say anything for a moment. He looks into his beautiful daughter's face. He sighs.

"I really don't know, Honey," he finally answers. She closes her eyes and nods. He brings her closer to him and envelops her in a hug. Claire cries on his shoulder. Some tears come to Nathan's eyes. He wish he could take his daughter's pain away. He didn't know what to do. After awhile, Claire pulls back.

"I wish my power worked emotionally," Claire tells him. Nathan smiles. He wipes the rest of her tears away and kisses her on the cheek. He stands up.

"If you need anything, your mother and I will be downstairs," He says.

"Okay," Claire replies. She stands up to. "I'm going to shower then call Beth." She hugs Nathan again. "Thanks, Dad."

"You're welcome, Claire Bear."

He leaves her room, shutting the door behind him. Claire yawns. Crying and just being an emotional wreck takes a lot out of a person. She looks at her alarm clock. It read 4:45. She had wasted another day away. It was mid-November now. Thanksgiving was coming up. She still couldn't believe Gabriel was gone. But in her heart, she knew he wouldn't want her to waste her life away.

Another wave of sickness washed over her. She rushed to her bathroom and threw up again. Once done, she felt a lot better. An awful feeling drops in the pit of her stomach. She gets up from the toilet and walks to her cell phone. She dials Bethany's number.

"Hey, Claire," She answers after the first ring. It seemed like her ear was attached to the phone. She always answered after the first ring.

"Beth, I need you to do me a favor," Claire tells her.

"Anything, Doll. What's up?"

"Could you please bring me a pregnancy test?"

Claire was pacing her room. After she had gotten off the phone with Bethany, she had gone downstairs to inform her parents that she was staying the night. Her parents seemed thrilled about the idea. Heidi suggested ordering a pizza and renting a couple of movies. Pizza did not sound appetizing to Claire at all, but she agreed. An hour later, ashe hears the doorbell ring. A few minutes later, a knock is heard on her door. A few minutes later, a knock is heard on her door. Claire turns around to see Bethany enter her room. She closes the door behind her.

"Finally!" Claire exclaims. Beth sets her overnight bag on Claire's bed. She unzips it.

"Sorry," Bethany explains. "I had to drive all the way across the city. I didn't want to chance running into anyone I know. You owe me gas money, by the way." Bethany takes out several pregnancy tests.

"Geeze, Beth," Claire gasps. "Did you buy the whole store's supple?"

"Almost! I bought a couple of each brand," Beth tells her. "These aren't 100% effective." Claire grabs one from her and reads the label. "You just pee on them, I guess," Bethany adds. Claire nods. She walks to the bathroom. She's been drinking water nonstop since she called Beth. She had to pee badly. Taking the plastic test out of the package, Claire sits on the toilet, sticking it under her.

Once done, she sets it on the counter. Bethany walks in. Slowly a plus sign starts to show. Claire's eyes widen. Bethany picks it up to look at it more closely. She sets it back down. She hands Claire the water bottle.

"It could be wrong," She says. Claire takes the bottle and nods. She takes a long drink.

"Bring me another test," She tells her.

An hour later, Claire was sitting on the floor of her bathroom and Bethany was sitting on the edge of the tub. They had gone though twenty tests. They all said positive. Claire closes her eyes. She couldn't help but feel a tiny bit happy. Of course, the part of her that feared her parents, overruled any other feeling.

"What am I going to tell my parents?" Claire whispers. Bethany only shrugs. She didn't know what to say.

"Is it Gabriel's?" She dares to ask. Claire looks at her, tears flooding her eyes. She nods. Bethany scoots off the edge of the tub to sit next to her best friend. She brings Claire's head to her shoulder, rocking her back and forth.

"Shh… It's okay, Claire," Bethany whispers. "We'll get through this together." Claire lifts her head back up. She wipes away at her tears.

"Thanks, Beth. I don't know what I would do without you," Claire tells her. Bethany gives her a small smile. She places a stray hair behind Claire's ear.

"You could take me to Paris for starters." Claire laughs.

"I almost forgot. My dad told me earlier today," Claire says.

"Hmm…" Bethany starts. Claire looks at her, curiously.

"What?"

"Maybe you should tell them before we go," She says. Claire scoffs.

"That will definitely guarantee us a trip there," Claire replies, sarcastically.

"Well, it's better than coming back with a tiny bump."

Claire gulps. She couldn't believe this. A baby. Gabriel's baby. This would be the biggest thing she has of him. Samson had given her his bike and she had one picture of him. She was even more heart broken when she realized she didn't have any pictures of the both of them together. The picture she did have was taken last summer. She did it for the photography course she took for college credit. The picture was of him and his bike. The bike was on its kick stand. It was sitting behind him. He had a pair of aviator sunglasses on. They were at some park. You could see a soccer field behind him. He was just standing there with his hands in the pocket, looking beautiful as usual. He was looking at something off in the distance, his mind elsewhere. He didn't realize she had taken the picture. She later had edited where it was black and white. She kept forgetting to show it to him.

The girls didn't hear the knock on Claire's bedroom door. They were still sitting in the bathroom when Heidi walks in. The bathroom door was open. She sees them sitting on the floor in there.

"What are you girls do-" Heidi saw all the pregnancy tests sitting on the counter. She walks closer. "What are those?"

"Mom!" Claire and Bethany quickly stand up. Heidi walks in and picks one up. She sets it down and looks at the others, her eyes widening with shock.

"I didn't want you to find out this way," Claire says, quietly. Heidi shakes her head. She then does something unrepentantly and hugs Claire.

"I had a feeling," She whispers. Claire pulls back, looking shocked herself. "Claire, your father and I have known you've been getting sick a lot lately. We're not stupid." Claire bursts into tears again. She brings her hands to her face. Heidi hugs her daughter again. "It's okay, honey. We'll figure something out." Claire nods against her mom's shoulder. They hear Nathan walk into the roo.

"The pizza is getting cold, girls," He says. He stops at the bathroom to see the three of them in there. "What's-"

Heidi steps back from Claire. "She's pregnant, Nathan."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I know this one isn't very long but I am going to start with a different POV next chapter. (SPOILER ALERT) Oops. Haha Anyway, hope you like this. I feel bad for putting Claire through all this heart break. Haha**

Chapter Eleven

Claire Petrelli sat in her car right outside the meadow. It had been a year and a half since the death of Gabriel. She had her baby girl six months ago. Her name was Abigail Dawn Petrelli. Claire wanted to give her daughter her father's last name, but she didn't want anyone to know she was Gabriel's daughter. The only one who knew was Bethany. She insisted on keeping that a secret.

"Just tell everyone you don't know who the father is," Bethany had told her the night she had found out she was pregnant. They had finally gotten Nathan to calm down. Heidi made him go to bed the rest of the night.

"But I never did it with anyone else!" Claire exclaimed. "I love Gabriel!"

"I just have a feeling that it would be easier for you if you kept it a secret," Beth explained. "Just tell everyone that it was a one night stand with someone before you met Gabriel."

"Yeah, and make everyone think I'm a slut," Claire says gloomily. Bethany only shrugged. So Claire took the advice of her friend. However, a lot of suspicions were raised when the child was born. She is a spitting image of Gabriel.

Heidi was babysitting for Claire at the moment. After the child was born, her parents told her she could stay with them as long as she was going to school. Claire agreed. She is now enrolled in the local college downtown. She is pursuing her photography dream.

Claire takes a deep breath and steps out of the car. She hasn't been here since the day Nathan found her. She takes a few steps to the entrance. She wasn't sure if she could do this. Blinking back the tears that were starting to fill her eyes, she walks into the meadow. It looked the same as the last time she was there. Beautiful flowers waving to her in the slight breeze. The October season had turned the leaves yellow, red, and brown. The ground was still green. It was gorgeous here. Something caught her attention. She looks over to where the stump was.

There was something lying on top of it. Claire walks over to it. It was the shirt Gabriel wore the last day they were together. The shirt was worn out and ragged looking from sitting there all that time. She gasps and snatches it up. She couldn't believe it. She brought the shirt to her nose. It still smelled like him. Tears instantly sprung to her eyes. They started to spill over. She sat down on the stump and cried into his shirt.

"I miss you so much," She whispers. The wind steals her words, blowing them into the forest. After awhile of sitting there and looking out over the side of the cliff, Claire stands up to leave. She had finally gotten herself to calm down. She was about to walk away when she remembered his notebooks. She couldn't believe she had almost forgotten. She gets onto her knees and reaches in the hole they were sitting.

Other than wiping some dirt off of them, they were not harmed at all. Claire sits back down on the stump. She opened up the sketch book first. There were pages of drawings. She hadn't known her was an artist. One picture was of the cliff. He had drawn the river below it. Another picture was of Samson working on a car. He had drawings of random people too. A lady smoking a joint while her young child was playing on the ground beside her. A man with long hair was playing a guitar at a bus station. They were incredibly good.

The last pages were of her. One where she was taking a picture of something off in the distance. One where she was sitting on the tree stump, her long hair blowing behind her. There were also ones of her and him, lying in bed and riding his bike with her sitting on the handle bars. She wipes away the tears that had fallen.

Taking another deep breath, she sets the sketch book to the side and opens up the notebook. A photograph slid out and fell on the ground. She snatches it up before the wind had a chance to steal it. The picture was of a young beautiful woman. She had long dark brown hair. Her eyes were the same beautiful brown as Gabriel's. She was smiling hugely as if someone had just told her a very funny joke. She was laughing. Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes had a twinkle. She was incredibly beautiful. Claire flipped the picture over to see if there was anything written. There was: Anna Lynn Gray Summer '87.

"So, this is Gabriel's mother," Claire thought to herself. She places it back in the notebook. Flipping through the pages, she could see this was a compilation of his diary and some poems he had written. After an hour of reading, Claire's cell phone rings. She pulls it out of her pocket and answers it.

"Hello?"

"Claire, it's your mom. I was just seeing if you'll be home for dinner," Heidi asks her.

"Yeah, I will be. I'm on my way now," she tells her.

"Okay, see you in a bit," Heidi says. They hang up.

Claire puts the phone back in her pocket. She was about to shut the notebook when her name popped out at her. Turning to the page towards the back, she sees it is a letter. Claire's eyes widen. She reads it.

'Claire,

I want to apologize for all the mean things I have said to you today. I went against my heart and tried to end it with you the bad way. I hope you're not upset with me. The reason I tried breaking your heart is because of your grandmother. She called me a few hours before you walked to Harsh Winds. She told me I needed to stay away from you because she believed I will be turning into a monster soon. I don't really understand what she meant. But she said it was selfish of me to be putting you in danger. She told me I will be receiving a power soon like you did. Only mine is going to make me kill people. I don't want to hurt anyone and especially not you, Claire. So instead of trying to make you hate me, I wanted to do something to make you remember me by. I love you, Claire. And I hope you will someday forgive me. I am leaving. I bought myself a bus ticket and going somewhere far away from you. I hope you understand. I promised not to stop when you said when.

Love, Gabriel'

Claire let out a sob. He planned on leaving her.

"But you didn't get the chance, Gabriel. You were killed," she whispered. This was her grandmother's fault. If she hadn't scared Gabriel with foolishness, he would still be here. Claire lets out a scream. Her sadness had turned into anger. Snapping the notebook closed, she grabs the sketchbook and storms to her car.

An hour later, Claire pulls her car up the driveway to her grandmother's home. She pounded her fist on the door. The housekeeper answered, telling her Madam Petrelli had gone over to her house. Claire thanked the woman and sped across town to her own home.

Claire storms into the house. She hears her family in the living room. She sees Angela bent over, cooing at Abigail who was in her rocker. Peter, Nathan, and Heidi look up to see Claire standing there.

"Get away from my daughter!" She yells. Angela instantly stands up straight and turns around to give Claire a startled look. Peter, Nathan, and Heidi have looks of surprise on their faces as well. Nathan stands up.

"Claire-" He starts to say.

"YOU KILLED GABRIEL!" Claire screams. Abigail starts crying. Heidi jumps up and runs to her, picking her up. Angela lifts an eyebrow at Claire. Peter's jaw drops. Nathan walks around the coffee table to stand beside his mother.

"What on Earth are you talking about, Claire?" He exclaims. Heidi rushes the baby out, giving Claire a dirty look as she passes her.

"You fed him a whole bunch of crap to make him want to leave!" Claire yells. A look of recognition passes Angela's features.

"I told you, Claire, he was a danger to our society," Angela tells her, remaining calm. Claire bursts into tears.

"You fucking bitch!" Claire screams.

"That's enough, Claire!" Nathan screams back.

"No! She minus well have killed him! If he didn't try to leave in such a hurry, he would still be alive!"

"That was destiny, Claire," Angela says. "It was meant to happen or it wouldn't have happened."

Claire stands there speechless. The tears kept coming. Her father walked to her and enveloped her in a hug. She sobbed her heart out on his shoulder. Heidi walks in and takes Claire by the arm, helping her out of the room, up the stairs, and into her bedroom. She collapsed onto her bed and cried into her pillow. Heidi sat at her daughter's side and rubbed her head, trying to get her to calm down.

Peter had taken Abigail from Heidi and held her. She was such a sweet little thing. He had a feeling this baby was Gabriel's but didn't voice his thoughts. If Claire didn't want anyone to know then he wouldn't be the one who betrayed her trust. He felt awful for the pain his young niece was feeling. No one should ever have to go through that.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Gabriel opened his eyes to find himself staring at a cement ceiling that had bright lights glaring harshly down on him. He closed his eyes again. He groaned and turned over onto his side. He can feel the springs through the crappy mattress stab him. Rubbing his eyes, he opens them slowly, trying to get used to the bright lights. He hears an alarm sound then a voice come over the intercom.

"Wake up, Mr. Gray," a gruff man's voice says. "It's time for you to take your pill." Gabriel sighs and tosses the blanket off of him. He slowly sits up, planting his feet on the ground.

"Any day now, kid," The man says impatiently. Gabriel turns his head to the left. He can see a man that wore horn-rimmed glasses standing near the slot where his food/other things come in. There was a hard glass separating the both of them. Gabriel stands up and walks to the slot. There was bottled water and a blue pill sitting on the tray. He hated taking that pill. It made him feel weird. His arms and legs would feel like there were a thousand pins stabbing him over and over again. He would feel shaky and eventually made him feel drowsy.

If he refused to take the pill, people in lab coats would come into is cell and inject him with something. Whatever they injected him with causes him severe pain in his head, making him vomit. Sometimes the pain would be so bad that it made him pass out. He didn't understand why he was brought here. Every other day, they would strap him to a table to poke and prod at him. They seemed to think he had powers, but he didn't feel any different. Gabriel looks down at the pill then back up at the man.

"Just take the damn pill, Gabriel," the man tells him, angrily. "You'll get your breakfast once you take it." Gabriel looks back down. He picks the pill up and looks at the man once more.

"Fuck you," Gabriel retorts. He then smashes the pill between his hand and the cement wall. The man just shakes his head and presses a button on the wall. A siren goes off. Gabriel jumps slightly.

"Look! Just please let me go! I won't tell anybody about this place! I promise!" Gabriel can see a door open at the end of the hall. Two men in white lab coats walk through it. The man starts walking away. Gabriel bangs on the window.

"WAIT!" He screams. He feels tears come to his eyes. "PLEASE HELP ME!" Don't let-"

The door to his cell bangs open, crashing into the wall behind it. Gabriel sees the man turn back to watch as he was pushed into the wall. He tries fighting the doctors.

"Get away from-"

Gabriel tried yelling. He feels a needle enter his arm, painfully. Tears slip down his cheeks. The men step away from him. He feels the familiar ringing inside his head. He starts to see the blurriness around his eyes. His head throbs painfully. Gabriel can no longer hold his body up so he slides down the wall. The room starts spinning. He thought he saw his door close but couldn't focus his mind. The ringing in his head got louder and his vision was going dark. He slumps over on the cold hard floor, unconscious.

"You promised not to stop."

"When you said when?"

Gabriel turns his head to the side to look at Claire. They were lying on the ground in their meadow. The sun was setting so they were covered in shadows from the trees that surrounded them. The wind was blowing, causing goosebumps rise on their skin.

"Yes," she whispers. She sits up and looks across the meadow. Gabriel sits up as well. She turns her head to look at him. He could see she looked sad and she had tears in her eyes. He frowns.

"What's wrong, Claire?" He asks, wiping away some tears that had fallen from her eyes.

"I'm afraid that you'll forget about me," she tells him, looking away. Gabriel looks confused at her.

"What are you talking about, Doll?" He says. "Why would I forget about you?"

Claire doesn't say anything. He turns his head to see what she was staring at. He looks back at her to find she was gone. Gabriel furrows his eyebrows.

"Claire?" He calls out. He looks around to see her standing by the edge of the cliff. Gabriel gasps. "Claire?" He stands up quickly and walks to her. She was staring down at the river.

"Claire, are you okay?" He asks, worriedly. "Wha-"

"Gabriel, please don't forget me," She whispers. The wind carries her voice throughout the meadow, making her words bounce off the trees. Her voice echoes all around them. He looks behind him then back at her. He reaches his arm out to touch her but before he can, she dives into the river.

"CLAIRE!" Gabriel screams. He looks down, horrified, expecting to hear a splash and see her being carried away. But nothing happened. He walked closer to the edge. "Claire! Claire! Claire!"

Gabriel gasps and opens his eyes. He was shaking and his skin was all sweaty. He wipes at his eyes. He had been crying in his sleep. He gets out of his bed and walks to the bathroom area of his cell. There was a toilet, sink, and mirror. He splashes cold water on his face. Feeling like he was falling over, he grips the sides of the sink to steady himself. He looks into the mirror to see he was incredibly pale. His hair was a bit longer and he looked like he aged some. It has been a year since he was kidnapped and brought to this wretched place. He walks back to the single bed and lies down. His thoughts settled at the dream he just had. Tears burned his eyes. He missed Claire so much. A sob escapes his mouth. His heart skips a few beats. He turns onto his side and burls into a ball. He was afraid he was going crazy.

He's seen a lot of weird things since he was brought here. Once the doctors or scientists (he wasn't sure what to call them) deemed him not a danger to others, they allowed him to leave his cell. The place had a cafeteria where other captives are allowed to eat and hang out. They also had a fenced off area outside where they could play basketball. He quickly realized that there were more people with powers. He still didn't see why he needed to be there, nothing ever happened to him. Well, except that whenever he sees someone use their power, he gets this overwhelming desire to attack the person. He didn't always dream about Claire. Sometimes he had these nightmares where he cuts the tops of people's heads off and steals something from them. Times like those he would force his mind to think about Claire and how he could never imagine hurting her. That desire would go away, only to be replaced with sadness.

Angela walks out of the room where they were testing on Gabriel Gray. She didn't understand why his powers still haven't come to him. She watched Gabriel closely ever since she brought him there. He didn't socialize with anyone. Not the other patients or even his psychologist that all patients were required to see once a week. It frustrated her to no end.

Later on that night, she was watching the security camera that was recording him. He kept tossing and turning in his sleep. All of a sudden he started crying out. At first she didn't understand what he was saying. She turned up the speaker so loud that what he said made her jump.

"Claire!"

Her eyes widen. That's when it dawned on her. She knew exactly what holding him back. Well, actually, who. Angela shuts the television off and grabs her phone.

"Mr. Bennet, I need you in my office with The Haitian first thing in the morning." She says to his voicemail. She snaps her phone closed and walks out to her limo with a smile on her face.

The next day, Gabriel walks around feeling like a zombie. He couldn't fall back asleep the night before. He just couldn't shake off this dreadful feeling. He wondered if today he was scheduled to do more testing on. He absolutely hated it when it was his turn. He was stripped naked and strapped to a table. They hooked machines up to him and was stabbed with needles that injected him with medicines that caused him to do/feel different things. Not only was it painful, but it was humiliating too.

"Gabriel?"

Gabriel turns around. He was walking back to his cell, wanting to nap. Angela Petrelli was standing there. Gabriel's hands turned into fists. He glares at her. Angela just smiles politely at him.

"Yes?" He growls at her.

"Could you please follow me to my office? I have some things to discuss with you."

"Actually, I was going back to my cell-"

"This cannot wait. I must speak with you."

"Well, I don't feel like talking right now. If you'll just excuse me."

Gabriel turns around and starts walking away from Angela. He can hear her sigh. Next thing, he is being grabbed by both arms from two security guards. They force him to turn around.

"What the hell?" He yells. Angela walks up to him.

"I told you I needed to talk to you about something important. You left me no choice but to treat you this way."

With that, she turns around sharply and walks up the corridor. The two security guards on either side of Gabriel drag him after her. He tries to pull himself away from them.

"I can walk by myself, assholes." He yells at them. They just ignore him, gripping him even harder. Angela turns into a room on the right. She walks behind a desk and sits down. The security guards force Gabriel into a chair on the other side of her desk. They stand there to make sure he doesn't get up and run.

"Thank you, gentlemen, that is all for now," Angela tells them. They nod at her and leave the room, closing the door behind them. Gabriel looks around the room. He sees the man that wore the horn-rimmed glasses standing on the other side of the room. He also sees a black man looking out the window. Gabriel turns back to Angela.

"What do you want?" He asks quite rudely. The horn-rimmed glasses man walks to the chair that sat beside Gabriel's chair. He sits down, looking sharply at him.

"You don't talk that way to Madam Petrelli," He scolds Gabriel.

"It's okay, Noah," Angela says, shaking her head at him. Gabriel glares at her. "I brought you in here to discuss your powers, Gabriel."

"What powers?" Gabriel yells. "I don't have any fucking powers!" Angela looks calmly at him. He turns his head to look out the large window.

"You do, Gabriel," she explains to him. "You're just holding yourself back." Gabriel turns his head back to look at her.

"What do you mean?" He asks.

"Gabriel, you need to get used to the fact that you are never going to see Claire again."

Gabriel blinks a couple of times. Without thinking, he jumps up and flies across Angela's desk. He shoves her against the wall, wrapping his hands around her throat. Angela's eyes widen. She doesn't do anything but stand there, trying to breathe. Noah jumped up and ran around the desk to them. He manages to get Gabriel away from her and pins him to the desk. Angela leans forward, coughing. She stands up straight, rubbing at her throat. She gets her breathing under control. She walks to Gabriel.

"I'm terribly sorry for doing this to you, Mr. Gray, but it's the only way for you to let go. You'll receive your powers this way."

"I don't want my powers!" Gabriel yells. He quit struggling with Noah. "I just want to see Claire!"

"That's not possible. You should have never met her," Angela says with a cold expression.

"You're a bitch!" Gabriel yells at her. Noah punches him in the mouth, making him bite his lip hard. Gabriel groans.

"What did I tell you?" Noah yells at him. Gabriel spits blood in his face. Noah raises his hand to his face and wipes the spit onto Gabriel's shirt.

"Noah, that was not necessary," Angela scolds him. "Rene, please come here." Gabriel bends his head back to see the black man walk over to them.

"What is he going to do?" Gabriel yells out.

"He is going to erase every memory you have of Claire," Angela explains to him. Gabriel's eyes widen. He starts to struggle Noah again.

"No! You can't do that!" He yells.

"I can and I will," Angela tells him.

Gabriel watches helplessly as the black man brings his hand to his forehead. Gabriel tries to get away but Noah has a tight grip on him. He closes his eyes. A weird feeling washes over him. Every memory that he had of Claire flashed through his mind: Them lying in the meadow. The scent of her hair flying in his face as they pedaled through the streets of their city. Her laughing, crying, smiling. The song Everlong pops in his head. He tries to hold on to the memory of them singing and dancing. He sobs out loud. The song slowly fades from his head, her face starting to fade from his heart. Everything turned dark and his head was filled with a buzzing sound. The black man removed his hand. All three adults see Gabriel had fallen unconscious.

"Lights out in ten, Gray," Noah Bennet says.

"I told you a thousand times, Bennet, it's Syler. I don't go by my fucking father's name anymore," Gabriel growls. He was doing sits up before bed. Another year had gone by since that day. His twentieth birthday was coming up and he was hoping he would break out before then. He now had the concept of his powers. He had killed and taken a guy that had telekinetic powers the first week he got his own. That was a year ago. He now has super hearing and can melt anything he wanted just by touching. Unfortunately, once in awhile, he would feel this hunger that was only satisfied when he had stolen someone else's power. He hated that feeling and hated how it controlled him. He didn't let anyone or anything control him. That is why he had to get out of this place.

Angela had placed him in solitary confinement after his third kill. She couldn't risk anymore deaths on her watch. The lights shut off and he was drenched in darkness. Gabriel, or now Syler, stopped doing sit ups. He lay there for awhile, trying to catch his breath. Times like these he felt this weird hollow feeling in his heart. He feels empty which causes him to feel sad. He didn't understand why he was feeling this way. He noticed it around the time he first received his powers. He just thought the feelings came with the powers. Gabriel gets up and climbs into his bed. He needed a good night's rest if he wanted to bust out tomorrow.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews, everyone. This is the final chapter of this story. I wish I had a better ending. I'm sorry if you didn't like it. Please tell me what you think. Again, thank you for following this and reviewing! **

Claire was sitting at her window seat. Her window was open. It was raining outside. The cool air washed over her. She took in a deep breath, the smell of rain and fresh air filling her lungs. She hears someone pull in the driveway. A few moments later, someone is knocking on her bedroom door. Claire looks over and sees Gabriel walk in. She gasps and jumps up. He walks a few steps in, closing the door behind him. She is about to say something, but he puts a finger up to his lips. Tears sting her eyes. She couldn't believe it. She takes a step forward, but he just turns around and walks out of the room. Claire blinks a few times.

"Gabriel?" She calls after him.

She walks towards her door, but the closer she seemed to get, the further away it was. She starts walking faster, eventually running. Finally, she reaches the door but then Angela was suddenly there, blocking her way. Claire stops. Angela was just standing there with her arms crossed.

"Please, move," Claire says.

Angela was looking over her shoulder. She didn't seem to hear her. Claire turns her head to see what she was looking at. Gabriel was sitting on her window seat. Claire furrows her eyebrows. She turns around and walks towards him. Gabriel stands up and looks at her sadly. She can see he was crying.

"Gabriel?" She says.

Next moment Gabriel was standing on her window seat.

"I'm sorry, Claire," He mouths.

He looks behind her. For some reason, Claire turns her head to see what he was looking at. She sees Angela walking towards them. She had forgotten about her. Claire turns her head back to look at Gabriel. Before Claire can do anything else, he had jumped out the window.

"GABRIEL!" Claire screams.

Claire opens her eyes. Her hand was out stretched in front of her and there were tears in her eyes. She let her hand drop on the bed. She turns onto her side and curls in a ball. Her heart was beating a hundred miles a minute. The tears wouldn't stop coming. It has been two years since the death of Gabriel. Every once in awhile she thought of him. Almost every night she dreamed of him. She looks at her alarm clock. It read 4:30. Giving up on sleep, she decides to get up.

Claire had her own apartment now. She had gotten a job with a nature magazine company. They paid her well. She dropped out of college (which didn't please her parents all that much), but she didn't care. She had a high paying job and was able to buy herself an apartment. She moved out of the city. She was tired of the heavy populated area. Claire walks down the small hallway to Abigail's room. She walked to her crib. She was sound asleep. Abigail had adjusted well to the new apartment. Since it has just been the two of them, Abigail hasn't been as irritable.

Claire watches her daughter sleep. She was beautiful. She looked exactly like her father. The only thing she had of Claire's, it seemed, was her attitude. Even for a two year old, she had spunk. Claire smiled at her then left the room, closing the door behind her. She walked into the living room and turned on the television. She was flipping through the channels when she stopped on the early morning news. She glanced at the clock. They didn't do the weather report until five o'clock. She still had fifteen minutes. She started to think about what to do today with Abby. She was about to get up to make some coffee when a name popped out at her. Claire turned the television up a little more. On the right side of the screen was a sketch drawing of a man. He had short spiky hair with a face full of beard.

"If anybody know the whereabouts of this man, could you please call our hotline," the news reporter was saying. A number appeared at the bottom of the screen. Claire shakes her head and stands up.

"The man's name is Sylar and he is very dangerous. He had killed three people in Houston, Texas, last Thursday. He has priors in other cities as well."

Claire mutes the television and stands up. They have been doing a report on this guy for weeks. He had broke out of some hospital in Odessa and has been killing ever since. It was getting quite annoying she thought. They had no idea who this guy was. It didn't scare her. It pissed her off. She thought it was ridiculous that the police had still not caught him. She walks to the kitchen and starts a pot of coffee.

There was a island separating the kitchen from the living room. She had most of her appliances on the island. Glancing at the television, she sees they had the weather report on. The forecast said it was going to be cloudy with a slight chance of rain for the rest of the week.

"Well, no going to the park today, then," she says to herself.

Claire walked about the kitchen making herself a pot of coffee. She then walks to her bedroom and grabs her laptop. She walks back out to the living room and sits down on the couch. She needed to have pictures of the carnival that came to town. They were going to be featured in the local newspaper. She sometimes worked for the paper as well.

The strong smell of coffee filled the tiny apartment. Claire set her laptop to the side to get herself a cup. When she passed the television, she saw they had the sketch of the man that killed all those people. She shook her head and continued into the kitchen.

As she walked back into the living room with her steaming cup of coffee, they had an actual picture up this time. Claire glanced up at the television for a second. What she saw made her do a double take. It was a picture of a man who looked exactly like Gabriel. She drops her cup on the hard wood floor, spilling coffee everywhere. She hardly noticed the pain for her burns were healing right away. She walks closer to the television, kneeling down on her knees.

Right when Claire got into a position where she could see better, they had taken the picture off. She gasped and reached for the remote, unmuting the television.

"Sorry, folks, that was not our suspect," the news reporter was saying. "We'll be back with sports after these messages."

Claire shuts the television off. She sits there a moment. She shakes her head and stands up. She steps over the mess she made and walks into the kitchen to find something to clean the mess up with. Her heart was pounding. She grabbed a towel from a drawer. She clutches the towel to her chest and leans against the refrigerator, sliding to the floor. Sobs had wracked her body, tears pouring down her face.

"Gabriel," she whispers into the towel. She scolded herself for making herself think the man in the picture was Gabriel.

"STUPID!" she screamed. She then banged her head back into the refrigerator.

Claire sat there for awhile. She wasn't sure how long, but it was light out. She hears Abigail start crying. She quickly gets up and cleans the mess. The floor was now sticky, but she decided to mop later. After washing her hands, she walks down to Abigail's room. Seeing her mother, Abigail stopped crying.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Claire says to her. Abigail smiles at her. She stands up and Claire picks her up. "Are you hungry?"

The rest of the day goes by in a blur. Claire told herself that she was not going to think of Gabriel anymore. She wouldn't allow it to consume her life. She was going to raise her child the best way she can without having a father there.

**A/N: So, I kind of lied. A little bit. I mean this IS the last chapter of this story, but it is not the end. Because guess what? Yes, you thought right. (That's if you thought that. Great now I look like an idiot. Ick) There is going to be a sequel. A few weeks ago, I had a really good dream about the show Hero. I thought it would fit real nicely in with this. :D So yeah. If you're interested, check my page once in awhile to see if I have it up. I haven't written out the first chapter yet. It will take awhile. I've been having a lot of writer's block. Blah. Well, anyway, like I said up there ^, I really do appreciate the reviews and hope you enjoyed muh story! Thank you everyone. :D (I hope you review some more because they make me VERY happy!) **


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